Action in memory of disappeared general Zakharanka banned in Brest

The Brest city executive committee didn’t permit holding a picket on the 10th anniversary of disappearance of former interior minister of Belarus Yury Zakharanka on May 7.

Activists of the United Civil Party planned to hold a picket at Lokomotiv stadium – a special reservation for mass actions in Brest.

The reason for the refusal is traditional: a football match takes place on that day at the only place available for mass events, “Belorusski Partizan” informs. Brest seem to become a football capital of the republic, where matches are organized so often that representatives of political parties should join the football clubs to get to the stadium, says Lyudmila Dzyanisenka, first secretary of the Brest city committee of the Party of Communists of Belarus.

As we have informed, the former interior minister and one of the leaders of the opposition Yury Zakharanka disappeared in May 1999. Many people in Belarus and abroad believe he was kidnapped on political grounds and possibly killed. The Belarusian authorities say the investigation hasn’t been finished yet, and reasons of Zakharanka’s abduction as well as his destiny are unknown.

The international community believes a number of Belarusian high-ranking officials, in particular former minister of internal affaires Uladzimir Navumau, head of the president’s administration Viktar Sheiman, former minister of internal affaires Yury Sivakou, former commander of special task squad Dzmitry Paulichenka, and former interior minister Yury Sivakou are involved in kidnapping of Yury Zakharanka and other oppositionists.