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Police attempt to summon 10 members of Belarusian Popular Front`s Soym for questioning

The police in Minsk summoned 10 members of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF)`s Soym (Council) for questioning.

The politicians were told to appear at the Tsentralny district police department on Tuesday for questioning as witnesses in a criminal case. However, the summons arrived at the opposition party`s office in Minsk hours after the questioning was to take place, Soym member Vadzim Kanapatski told BelaPAN. The envelopes containing the summons had no stamps on them.

He suggested that the police wanted to question the activists in connection with the criminal case against BPF members Syarhey Semyanyuk, Ales Kalita and Maksim Hubarevich, who are accused of beating up a guard in the building where the BPF has its office in an incident that occurred shortly before the beginning of Soym`s meeting on August 13.

The BPF leadership views the police`s attempt to question the Soym members as politically motivated pressure on the party, according to Mr. Kanapatski.

None of the Soym members is a worker of the party`s executive bodies and most of them do not even reside in Minsk, he stressed.

The party has told the Tsentralny district police department to deliver its summons in accordance with proper procedures next time. //BelaPAN