Belarusian Ambassador Was Summoned to the Carpet at the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs

The Foreign Ministry demanded the release of all persons illegally deprived of their liberty.

In connection with the detention in Minsk of the Swiss television correspondent and radio company SRF, Luzia Tschirky, accredited in Belarus and Russia, the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs invited the Belarusian ambassador to this country Aliaksandr Hanevich, naviny.online reports.

The foreign ministry "condemned the detention of journalist Luzia Tschirky and demanded the release of all persons illegally deprived of their liberty." "Switzerland continues to monitor the situation closely," the department said on its Twitter page.

Tschirky was detained on the afternoon of January 31 along with a local acquaintance, human rights activist Anisia Kazliuk, and her husband Yulii Illiushchanka on the way to a cafe. She was released three hours later after the intervention of Swiss diplomats. In an interview with SRF, Tschirky said that she was not explained the reasons for her detention and was not allowed to call the embassy. Illiushchanka was arrested for 25 days, and there is no information about the trial of Kazliuk yet.

In total, according to human rights activists, at least 167 people were detained last Sunday, and at least 35 people were convicted on Monday.