All savings of UCP activist's family sezied during the search

On May 18 policemen held a search in the apartment of Doctor of Science, former deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, a member of the Uited Civil Party Yury Varonezhtsau.

During the search that lasted for about 5 hours policemen seized three notebooks, one of which belongs to his 10-year-old daughter, his son's computer, a video camera, mobile phones, data carriers - CDs, memory sticks and videocassettes, books and money - from $5,000 to 7,000.

"They scraped out all the money they found in different places. Most of the money belong to my wife. We do not know how to live," the politician said in an interview to BelaPAN.

The search was held by policemen of Internal Affairs Department of Homel regional executie committee "under a ruling to carry out a search in the framework of the criminal case". The search warrant was signed by senior investogator of the investigation department of the police department of Leninski district of Minsk Yukhnevich and prosecutor of Leninski district of Minsk Ukrainets. "Allegedly things and values relevant for the criminal case could be kept here, in my flat. Besides, they were needed to compensate the damage in the civil suit," Varonezhtsau said.

The search was held by an interrogating officer of Homel Interior Affairs department Puseu and other policemen. There were 8 of them altogether. Two more policemen, one of whom was a policemen of the Local Office of the Department (Ministry) of the Interior of the Central district Artsemy Barabanau, hindered work of the journalists who were standing near the porch of Varonezhtsau. Policemen prevented from shooting video, threatened, demanded to follow them to the community police office.

"To some extent I belong to "Say the truth!" campaign," Varonezhtsau said. "The fact that the campaign's activists have been subject to such repressions shows that there is a desire to supress this movement. It is a powerful campaign, it gained support of people immediately, and it frightened the authorities. Some case had been framed up. It does not have any bearing to us. And now they are attacking us. Such things happened before, but now it takes totally unseemly forms," Varonezhtsau stated.

The scientist is set to appeal against actions of the police: "I want them to explain me what is going on, what kind of country we are living in, when they come and take away things without explanations, live us without means of support".

On May 18 policemen also searched flat of the chairman of the United Civil party's city branch Andrei Talochyn. Two system blocks of the computer, two scanners, two mobile phones, CDs, photos from a personal photo album, a memory stick, a printer and party booklets have been seized.

On May 18 searches at places of "Say the truth!" campaign activists were held all over the country. By the way, an interrogating officer Alyaksandr Puseu who searched the flat of Yury Varonezhtsau is in charge of the criminal case opened for defamation in which independent journalists Natallya Radzina, Iryna Khalip, Svyatlana Kalinkina and Maryna Koktysh are involved. They have been sumoned by him for interrogation in the police department of Pershamajski district of Minsk for today.