Latvian Citizen Detained And Sent To Mental Hospital In Belarus

The law enforcers did not like the statements about Lukashenka.

Latvian Foreign Ministry urges citizens not to travel to Belarus, despite the visa-free regime introduced by the Belarusian authorities in mid-April. There has already been reported a case of arrest of a Latvian citizen because of messages on his phone - he is now in a psychiatric hospital. This is what the Parliamentary Secretary of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, said, reports La.lv.

"People think that they are just going there for shopping, to visit relatives, but anyone can be stopped and arrested in the street," said the representative of the Latvian Foreign Ministry.

She gave a specific example.

"One Latvian citizen is currently detained. His phone was checked and the authorities didn't like the messages condemning Lukashenka's regime. He was placed in custody," Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica informed. "When consular officers quickly arrived to see the detainee, he was no longer there, as he was placed in a closed psychiatric hospital for a month for expert examinations".

She did not say whether the detained Latvian citizen took advantage of the "Belarusian visa-free travel" or whether he resided in Belarus.