Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: “Abductors were “making fun” of me: we’ll take you to Kurapaty, we’ll shoot and bury you there”

Abductions of oppositionists by riot policemen and secret services officers happened in previous years, but nobody took responsibility for that.

Over the last two years the unknown in mufti seized and took out of town one of the leaders of “European Belarus” civil campaign Yauhen Afnagel and “Young Front” leader Zmitser Dashkevich.

Such things happened before. Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, “European Belarus” press secretary, told in detail to Radio Svaboda what happened with him in 2000 during Freedom Day celebration.

“I was seized near Yakub Kolas Square. They forced me into a police car, then into a paddy wagon. And then took me in direction unknown.

We were travelling for about 40 minutes. They were “joke”: we are taking you in Kurapaty (mass execution site during Stalin era), we’ll shoot and bury you. Finally they threw me out of car 15 kilometres away from the city in Moscow direction.

It was disagreeable sensation certainly. And I think that they were counting on that: to intimidate, to break psychologically, morally. Those who detained me were in masks, others were in black uniform without identification badges. Nobody told their names certainly,” the oppositionist said.

Alyaksandr Atroshchankau said that he filed a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office.

“But as usual there were no results. They answered to me that the facts I had written about hadn’t been confirmed in any way,” the press-secretary of “European Belarus” said.