Searches held in flats of ecology campaign activists

Today morning policemen came to the flat of the leader of the civil initiative “Astravets nuclear power station is crime”.

Last Friday policemen came to Mikalay Ulasevich and Ivan Kruk, Astravets-based activists who oppose construction of the nuclear power station. They had a search warrant signed by the district prosecutor, Radio Svaboda informs.

Nobody was at home in M. Ulasevich’s flat, while Ivan Kruk’s son refused to allow anybody to enter the house without his father’s permission.

On Monday Ivan Kruk came to the prosecutor himself. As said by him, the prosecutor explained that the warrant had been issued in connection with publishing an independent bulletin “Astravetski vestnik” (“Astravets messenger”), published by members ofthe organisnig committee ofthe civil initiative “Astravets nuclear power station is a crime”.

The publication had 2 pages in A4 format, with a circulation of 299 copies, in Belarusian and Russian. In the first issue of the bulletin materials with facts against construction of the nuclear power station in Astravets were issued.

Members of the organizing committee believe that the nuclear power station “by definition, a nuclear power station cannot be built in the greatest seismic hazard zone, which is Astravets district Hrodna region”. It is stated in the text written by the chairman of the organizing committee Mikalay Ulasevich.

As we have informed, members of the organizing committee of the initiative “Astravets nuclear power station is a crime” had addressed local authorities with appeals to authorize pickets and a meeting with scientists in order to get message across to people that the idea of a nuclear power station construction in the region makes no sense.

All their requests were denied. Besides, the local newspaper refused to publish information provided by the members of the organising committee which criticized the position of the Belarusian authorities concerning the nuclear power station construction.

“All these reasons have become the cause for emergence the new publication,” Mikalay Ulasevich said.

Kruk and Ulasevich have written a complaint against actions of the regional prosecutor to the Prosecutor General.