English

Police raid office of «Tell the Truth!» movement, seize printed material

The Minsk office of the "Tell the Truth!" movement was searched by police on Thursday evening. A large amount of printed material was seized from the office.

At 6:30 p.m., the district police officer arrived at the office, which is located in an apartment house, and announced that he had received a complaint from neighbors, Andrey Dzmitryyew, deputy chairman of the "Tell the Truth!" movement, told BelaPAN.

People had gathered in the apartment to watch a television address by Tatsyana Karatkevich, a member of the movement who is running in the House of Representatives, Mr. Dzmitryyew said.

"The district police officer and the four officers who joined him later were rather polite," he said. "They watched the address together with us and then recorded our passport data and began drawing up a list of our belongings."

The policemen seized the entire printed material related to this month's parliamentary elections, as well as leaflets dating back to the 2010 presidential election. They also seized balloons bearing the movement's logo and video surveillance equipment.

Computer equipment was not seized.

Mr. Dzmitryyew linked the raid to the movement's active involvement in the parliamentary elections. "We are holding an active campaign not only in district where there are our candidates but also in districts where there are no such candidates. We talk to people, explain the situation and, of course, this cannot but concern our authorities and causes their nervous reaction," he said.

Ms. Karatkevich arrived at the office midway through the search. "I'm worried about my printed material, which I have been keeping in the office. The reasons for what is taking place are clear - the "Tell the Truth!" movement is fighting for votes, for the right to defend voters' interests," she said.