BISS director arrested and accused of fighting

Alyaksei Pikulik was taken to a detention centre in Akrestin Street.

Alyaksei Pikulik, the academic director of Vilnius-based Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS) and professor of the European University at St Petersburg, was detained in Minsk at 6 pm on May 31. He is charged with a misdemeanor.

There are no details about the detention of Pikulik. According to the lawyer, he was sent from the Tsentralny district police department to a detention centre in Akrestin Street. The mother of the detainee had a telephone call from the detention centre confirming Alyaksei was there.

He is expected to be tried in the Tsentralny district court of Minsk on June 1, BelaPAN reports.

On April 6, road police stopped his car and demanded to go to the Tsentralny district police department for an identity check. The BISS academic director was suspected of involvement into a fight and document forgery. Police seized his passport.