Border guards didn’t want to let in Belarus oppositionist, restricted to travel abroad

Democratic activist Yury Karetnikau was got off the train Kyiv-Minsk by Belarusian border guards at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

The activist was detained on the border during identity check because he is on the list of people restricted to leave Belarus made by the secret services. Yury Karetnikau was suspected in 4 July blast in Minsk. But this time the activist was returning home and border guards had no legal grounds to detain him, milinkevich.org reports.

According to Yury Karetnikau, border guards realized the situation was absurd but had to wait instructions from Minsk.

“They said they had no right to ban be enter Belarus, but nevertheless waited for an order of their commandment. Minsk was slow with a response, they couldn’t lay the train and had to get me off. Only after that they received an order to release me. The rest of the night I was hanging around the station and took Odessa-Minsk train in the morning to get home. I had to buy a ticket in Homel at my cost,” the democratic activist tells.

Yury Karetnikau thinks the Minsk authorities were so slow purposefully to create additional difficulties for him and revenge upon him. It hasn’t been the first time when the activist was returning home openly though he usually leaves the country by indirect routes. The secret services may have got irritated with this.

According to Yury Karetnikau, border guards apologized to him because they were perplexed.

“You are not the first who has been detained in this way, not the first who has been got off train,” the said.