Lukashenka takes new hostages

On September 18, the Kastrychnitski district court of Hrodna began hearing of the case of recognition printed materials, seized by Hrodna border guards for some years, extremist. The trial was postponed and will take place in October after the “parliamentary election”. Lukashenka’s message to the west is clear – if you don’t recognise the “election” and my regime democratic, I will throw to prison 9 people.

Nine people -journalist Andrzei Pisalnik, UCP member Uladzimer Laryn, students and former students of Kalinouski programme Yauhen Skrabutan, Alyaksei Trubkin, Dzmitry Malchyk, Barys Haretski, human rights activist Valer Shchukin, Yury Martsinovich and Dzmitry Yodka, are involved in the case.

The case was instigated by the regional KGB directorate. As the KGB thinks, the seized materials may have extremist character. However, it is not defined what it may mean. Now the KGB asks the court to clear out the situation, “Nasha Niva” reports.

“I was seized two flash cards with pictures, footage, as well as Young Front documents ahead of the local “election” in December 2006. I wrote a pile of different complaints to return my things. They say they are checking. Before that event, after the first congress of the democratic forces, where Milinkevich was elected, I was going to Poland with documents of the congress. I was seized them for checking, too. They wrote, these materials promote protest mood and stir up social hostility and damage political interests of the state. One time I was seized Letters from Forest, a book by Sevyarynets, I was reading in the car at frontier. They said about Sevyarynets that his book was directed at assumption of power via non-constitutional methods,” Yauhen Skrabutan.

Journalist Andrzei Pisalnik was one of a few figurants of the case, who attended the trial. Pisalnik, who lives in Moscow, is now in Hrodna, where he is recreating after an apoplectic attack.

In 2006, Hrodna customs officers seized circulation of newspaper Glos znad Niemna na Uchodzstwie from Pisalnik. After two and a half years of checking, it was found out that this edition may have “extremist appeals”.

“I used the trial to learn the materials of the case carefully. I think there may be something I haven’t seen before – linguists’ examination or at least translation of the materials to Russian or Belarusian. I didn’t find anything. There is only request of head of the Hrodna region KGB directorate Manevich, who had learnt the edition and said it might have “extremist content”. Frankly speaking, I don’t know if this person can read in Polish,” A. Pisalnik says.

The activist of the unrecognised by the authorities union of Poles says he can’t foresee how the case will finish.

”It is senseless to make forecasts, if you don’t understand the logic. I don’t exclude this case may be turned into a criminal one, which provides an imprisonment up to 5 years.

I don’t exclude that Glos znad Niemna na Uchodzstwie may be recognised an extremist edition and ban its spreading in the country. It’s hard to imagine how this case wil being heard, because Glos and Ordinary President by Kalinkin and Sharamet are very different things,” A. Pisalnik says.

“The precedent is rather alarming,” Ales Byalyatski, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights, says.

“When these amendments on extremism were adopted by the house of representatives, we predicted that they might be used against dissidents. As we see now, the first signs have appeared.”

Why has the trail been postponed? “I think the judge didn’t understand what he should do. I personally will ask for closing the case,” A. Pisalnik says. The people involved in the case were said they would receive summons for the next trial in early October. Just after the “parliamentary election”.