Artur Finkevich, not permitted leaving Belarus to meet US congressmen, is not restricted to travel abroad

Leader of the organization “Young Belarus” learnt from the visa and registration office of the Tsentralny district of Minsk he has no restrictions to leave Belarus.

It should be reminded that on April 10, Artur Finkevich was detained on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border and said he had no right to leave the country. Artur Finkevich, as well as former political prisoner, former candidate for presidency in Belarus Alyaksandr Kazulin and the leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Lyabedzka were going to Vilnius for a meeting with the US Congressmen.

But yesterday, April 21, the “Young Belarus“leader knew there are no restrictions to leave the country.

“I went to the Tsentralny district visa and registration office yesterday and asked if I can go abroad,” Artur Finkevich told in an interview to the Charter’97 press center. “Lieutenant-colonel Svyatlana Pilipenka said I wasn’t restricted to leave the country. But on April 10, I wasn’t allowed to go to Lithuania. Pilipenka said it was a mistake in the data base and apologized.”

On the same day Artur Finkevich field a complaint to the General Prosecutor’s Office against unlawful actions of customs officers and border guards.

“I found out that all restrictions were removed on February 5, 2008,” Artur Finkevich said. “But I have faced restrictions to leave the country over this time. To be more precise, there were five such cases. On February 27, I was seized a laptop on the Belarusian-Polish border. I don’t know what happened to it. I don’t receive any information about the destiny of my computer.”

As the “Young Belarus” leader says, the facts of impeding to go abroad are purposeful repressions of the Belarusian authorities.

“In fact, I was deprived of one of the fundamental constitutional rights – the right to leave the country and to return to the county,” Artur Finkevich said. “Such violations are impossible for a free law-based state.”