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KGB raids office of Belarusian Helsinki Committee

Officers of the Committee for State Security (KGB) on Wednesday raided the office of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) in connection with the mass riot case opened over last month’s post-election demonstration in Minsk.

The officers carried out the search in the presence of two witnesses, seizing two computers and the organization’s internal server system.

KGB staff also searched the apartment of BHC leader Aleh Hulak later in the day.

Mykhailo Kamenev, an aide to the head of the Minsk mission of the Committee of International Control over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus, traveled to the BHC office after hearing of the raid. "I've come here to observe whether there will be human rights violations, whether they will seize material used by human rights defenders. Our mission is very concerned about the situation of human rights defenders in Belarus as there have been multiple raids and seizures of material related to the operation of human rights groups recently. In our view, this is a violation and interference with their activity," the Ukrainian journalist said.

According to Mr. Kamenev, human rights defenders are protected by Belarus' international obligations and agreements. "We believe that the Belarusian authorities must think very seriously about the observance of the rights of human rights defenders and not interfere with their activity," he said. //BelaPAN