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Prominent opposition activist Valery Ukhnalyow released after thorough warrantless searches

Valery Ukhnalyow, deputy chairman of the opposition "Spravedlivy Mir" (Just World) Belarusian Party of the Left who was arrested in Hrodna on August 24, was released at about midnight after a thorough search of his car and personal belongings and warrantless searches of the home of his Hrodna relatives and the home of their neighbors.

As Mr. Ukhnalyow, who was registered Thursday as a parliamentary candidate, told BelaPAN by phone, he guesses that the police were looking for a large sum of money. “Since I came to an area near the border, they might have thought that someone brought me millions across the border,” he said. “I had a small amount of dollars in my bag. I did not hide them. They took away that money. They said the notes would be examined as they could be counterfeit. But they said themselves they should not have started all the thing to find such a sum.”

“I guess they targeted me because I am a leader of an opposition party, not because I am a parliamentary candidate,” Mr. Ukhnalyow said. “Since the campaigning stage has kicked off, they may have thought that I was handed a heap of money. They were looking for money everywhere. They even cut to pieces a cake that I had bought at a store. While I was held at the police station, they searched the home of my relatives and the apartment of their neighbors, and even the neighbors’ workplace. They said they did not need a warrant from a prosecutor because that was an inspection, not a search. Six men entered the apartment, bringing along a dog. They turned everything inside out. They produced no documents. My relative, a woman, asked what was all this about, but they said, ‘Just an inspection.’”

“That was not the first time police seized money from me ‘for examination,’” Mr. Ukhnalyow. “They always gave it back. I guess they will return it this time as well.”

Mr. Ukhnalyow was pulled over by a traffic officer at about 6 p.m. when he, his daughter and his wife’s sister were driving from Hrodna to a country house. He, the passengers and the car were searched by eight uniformed police officers led by a lieutenant colonel and four special task police officers armed with assault rifles. Mr. Ukhnalyow was told that the vehicle might have been stolen. He and his relatives were taken to the Hrodna district police department where they were questioned in different rooms.