Zhadan About Shunevich: I Do Not Know Him, Too

Ukrainian writer Sergey Zhadan commented on Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus Ihar Shunevich’s interview.

At a meeting with journalists, answering the question about the arrest of Sergei Zhadan in Minsk in early February, the minister said: "I know the Ukrainian literature and studied it for 17 years. I do not know such a writer as Zhadan, perhaps to my shame. The list of undesirable persons contains more than 1 million 700 thousand people. More than 500 thousand of them are citizens of Ukraine. "

"I do not know him, too," – Sergei Zhadan wrote in response on Facebook.

On February 11, Sergei Zhadan, who arrived in Minsk at a literary festival, was put a stamp in the passport, banning entry to Belarus for an indefinite period. At about two o'clock in the morning, a police patrol broke into his hotel room in Minsk. Without explaining anything, the police officers took Sergei Zhadan to a police station.

Sergey Zhadan told journalists, that he was banned to enter Russian Federation in 2015 for “for involvement in terrorist activities”. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia have a common list of personae non gratae.

However, after the official protests from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Belarusian authorities annulled the ban on entry to Belarus for Zhadan. The decision was taken within hours.