Andrei Tkachou: They beat me and threatened I would be jailed until New Year's Eve

The KGB blackmailed an administrator of a pro-opposition group on VKontakte social networking website.

Andrei Tkachou, a moderator of the groups “Only SHOS!” and “We're fed up with Lukashenka” on VKOntakte social networking site, tells charter97.org how seven well-muscled men in tracksuits had arrested him and KGB officers beaten and threatened him and his girlfriend.

“I was sleeping in my girlfriend's flat on August 30. The girl took the dog for a walk, I was alone at home. It was about 11 in the morning. I heard someone trying to open the door. The next second, I heard loud stomping. I raised my head and saw seven well-muscled men in tracksuits. They pulled naked me out of bed, twisted my arms, but allowed to dress up. They seized all devices from the flat – laptops, cell phones, a camera, flash drives – though most of these things belonged to my girlfriend,” Andrei Tkachou recalls.

“They didn't say anything to me. They did not say their names and did not say what I was charged with. The shouted 'Don't talk!' to all my questions. They convoyed me out of the flat, pushed into a blue minibus and drove to the Frunzenski district police department. I was taken to an office, where three KGB officers were waiting for me – two investigators and a computer specialist. The investigators used a 'good cop, bad cop' tactic,” the moderator says.

“KGB officers wanted me to tell them passwords for my account on VKontakte. They threatened they would often throw me into a detention centre, so that I wouldn't be released until New Year's Eve. They said they would break my nose, hit me in the head, neck and legs. They threatened my girlfriend would be expelled from university and persecuted. They found private photos  on my camera and promised to make them public,” the administrator of the group “We're fed up with Lukashenka” says.

“They trumped up a report against me. They wrote I quarrelled with my girlfriend, went to a shop and swore in public. As they wrote, a policeman in civvies made a remark, but I swore at him. He then called a police squad and they detained me. I was taken to the Frunzenski district court. I was sentenced to 7 days in custody. They took me back to the police department. I spent 9 hours there without food and water. They convoyed me to the detention centre at 10 p.m. KGB officers didn't visit me there. They said they would return the seized equipment to my girlfriend, but she has not returned it yet,” Andrei Tkachou said.

We remind there were mass arrests among moderators of protest groups on VKontakte social network site on August 30. Andrei Tkachou and Pavel Eutikhieu were detained and sentenced to seven and five days in custody receptively. Minor Raman Pratasevich was beaten and released. Syarhei Byaspalau fled to Poland. Aleh Shramuk, detained in Vitebsk, had to reveal passwords for his account.

The secret services received access to administration of the groups “We're fed up with Lukashenka” with 37,000 members and “Only SHOS!” with 15,000 members. Both communities were deleted. The technical support team restored the groups, but KGB officers again gain control over them via accounts of detained moderators and began to publish provocative information. The tech support team returned administration rights to real moderators and deleted accounts of KGB officers.