KGB attempted to recruit oppositionist in Klimavichy

On 27 March Aliaksandr Balobin, a Tell the Truth campaign’s activist, was interrogated at Krychau interdistrict department of KGB.

According to the 23-year old activist, Krychau’s KGB agents took him from the district military registration and enlistment office of Klimavichy where he was subpoenaed for a medical inspection. According to Balobin, two agents, who refused to introduce themselves, told him to sit in their car, Radio Svaboda reports.

“From Klimavichy I was taken to Krychau, to the building of KGB. There they interrogated me. I spent three hours there. They pinned the article on me that I act on behalf of an unregistered organization, which means Tell the Truth campaign. They intimidated me. They told that the conversation must only stay between us. Because it “is in your interests, we cannot order to you, we are in a free country , - the activist tells.”

Aliaksandr Balobin believes that the reason for the conversation at KGB were his activities in Klimavicy district as a coordinator of Tell the Truth campaign. The activist notes that during the interrogation the agents had several folders with documents on his activities.

“The information was there that on 25 March we handed out congratulatory leaflets on the occasion of the Freedom Day. I told them that there was no information about political parties, neither about campaigns in the leaflets. I told them that we just wanted to tell people that such a holiday exists and we were congratulating them on it. On that they replied that I must understand what I should not do, which meant that I should not act on behalf of Tell the Truth. They also suggested, as I understand it, cooperation, and they called it consultations. They explained that they would address me for help with some information and I would help them with advice. I refused”, - Balobin says.

Aliaksandr Balobin filed a complaint about the agents to the region prosecutor’s office. The actions of the KGB employees are called illegal in it. It is noted that during the interrogation Balobin was being intimidated and suggested to become an informer. As the complaint states, the interrogation protocol was composed by the head of Krychau’s KGB Illa Krautsou. Aliaksandr Balobin asks the prosecutor’s office to check the fact of the legal character of the interrogation and punish the guilty.

Photo: Radio Svaboda