The BPF Party Requires the Release of Detainees and Resignation of Shunevich

Unreasonable arrests and violence against innocent civilians are unacceptable and inadequate.

The Chairman of the Belarusian People's Front Party Aliaksei Yanukevich made a statement filled with indignation and protest at unprecedented mass detentions and beating of participants in a peaceful demonstration on 25 March 2017, Radio Svaboda reports.

"A gross violation even of this unfair and undemocratic law "On Mass Events" by the Minsk City Executive Committee, non-motivated arrests, violence against civilians, journalists, observers and passers-by on March 25 and 26 are unacceptable and inadequate. They prove restoration of all previous repressive mechanisms in Belarus.

We can see that the authority wants to deceive again not only the Belarusian people, but an international community. It frames a criminal case against Belarusian patriots of the former Bely Legion and the Young Front to justify a new way of repressions against those dissatisfied with political and socio-economic policy.

We are convinced that those who have made political decisions, prepared and obeyed orders to initiate a politically motivated criminal cases "on organization of mass events", on prohibition of the peaceful demonstration on 25 March and mass arrests of participants on 25 and 26 March, as well as those who perform propaganda activity work for making our country weak and drive it into an international isolation directly damaging interests of the Belarusian people and national interests of Belarus", the newsletter says.

The BPF Party requires "to stop state repressions against people in connection with the right to a peaceful protest, to immediately release all detainees for their participation in street activities in Minsk and other cities of Belarus", to stop the criminal investigation "on organization of mass events" and to release immediately all detainees of the case, and to resign the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihar Shunevich.

It will be recalled that on March 25 thousands of riot policemen resisted peaceful demonstrators.