On the first day of early voting, 18 September, the activists of the youth wing of Tell the Truth! campaign held a pre-election rally in Minsk with symbolic distribution of borsch. The picket participants played on the phrase of the Belarusian Central Election Commission chairman Lidziya Yarmoshyna, who, after the presidential election in 2010, said that Belarusian women should better cook borsch rather than be engaged in political activities.

Shortly after the picket started, unknown men ran up to the participants and journalists and began beating and arresting all those present. During the detention people in civilian clothes were pushing everyone into the vans. An independent cameraman Aliaksandr Barazenka, Associated Press photographer Siarhei Hryts, Reuters’ photographer Vasil Fiadosenka, photographer of the European Press-photo Agency Tatsiana Ziankovich, BelaPAN correspondent Pavel Padabed, and also the filming group of the German TV channel ZDF, cameraman Dzmitry Rudakou and producer Aliaksei Akulau were detained.

According to one of the witnesseses of the event, the unknown men in civilian clothes came right after the very start of the picket. First of all, their attention was drawn to foreign journalists – to the filming group of the German TV channel ZDF. After other journalists started filming the detention of the Germans, the men in plain clothes arrested them.

Detained journalist: “I was punched in the face, right in the eye. I had half of my face covered in blood”

Journalist Siarhei Hryts said that during the arrest he was hit in the eye. “Some men just rushed upon me and tried to pull out all the equipment and push everyone into the van. I was punched in the face, in the right eye. I had half of my face covered in blood. They grabbed both my cameras and tried to drag me into the bus. Of course, I resisted and was hit in the face right away. I lost my glasses somewhere there on the battlefield. We were taken to the police department; they took all the equipment, and erased all the photos. They put us to different rooms, copied our personal data, and took away the documents. Then they would move us from room to room for two hours. Eventually they apologised dryly and released us”.

According to Hryts, in the bus unidentified plain-clothed men immediately confiscated phones from those who tried to call. At the police station all the detainees were placed in the hall, and policemen seated them separately at a certain distance from one another. Equipment was confiscated immediately and was put on one of the tables.

“I spent two hours in different rooms. Nobody asked me anything. They took away my passport and, obviously, checked my identity”.

The journalist said that his colleagues were released without drawing up reports. The equipment was returned to him, but the photos of the rally were deleted.

TV reporter Alies Barazenka, who was among the detainees, said that it was not the first time he encountered obstacles to his work created by the authorities:

“They pushed me into a van quite brutally. I now look at the photos and see that I was held by the neck. But I do not remember it because I was very nervous. They said nothing, and we shouted that we were journalists and they should let us go, but they did not care. I’m not surprised at all, because it is less than a week before the so-called elections. Well, soon we will see even larger crackdown. This is only the beginning of what awaits us the next week. It is for the first time that I get in such a situation. Everyone knows, at least Belarusian journalists do, that the country is lawless. Therefore, these are the circumstances which we are supposed to work in. The silent protests showed what the police are worth and how they work. I think Siarhei [Hryts] will appeal against these actions, and we will help and join him”.

Later, around 5 PM on 18 September independent TV journalists Viachaslau Piashko and Valiantsin Mikhaltsau were detained in Minsk. They were filming outdoors when they were approached by the police and detained. After three hours the journalists were released, but the camera which they used remained at the police station.

Lawyer of the Belarusian Association of Journalists: “Perpetrators of the attack should be held criminally responsible for their actions”

According to the Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Andrei Bastunets (right), the attack on journalists during the election rally is a gross violation of the law on mass media.

Andrei Bastunets stressed that according to the Belarusian legislation the media have the right to attend any public events, including the unauthorized ones. At the same time law enforcement officials have no right to interfere with journalists that perform their professional duties.

“The today’s case, especially if the information about beating up the journalists and damaging equipment will be confirmed, should be interpreted in accordance with Article 198 of the Criminal Code of Belarus “Obstruction of lawful professional activities of a journalist”. The perpetrators of the attack should be held criminally responsible for their actions”, added Andrei Bastunets.

Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Sviatlana Kalinkina commented on the incident with reporters:

“It’s all outrageous. When a country formally keeps to all the laws and the articles of the Constitution, which guarantee journalists the right to the profession, and people the right to get information, but there are always some people in civilian clothes, who can do anything – break the law, the Constitution, and the rights of Belarusian and foreign journalists. And no one can deal with them. That is the tendency which almost every election in Belarus starts with. I think this is done intentionally to intimidate the society, to increase anxiety, and to make people feel scared to take to the streets”.

Human rights defender: “Legal mechanisms do not work, because if they were, this practice would have long ceased to be”

According to law, representatives of mass media have the right to attend any public events, including the unauthorized ones. But the chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Aleh Hulak (left), drawing from past experience, has doubts that the perpetrators will be punished:

“Again, a violation. Unfortunately, the practice of arbitrary detentions, violations and gross, illegal actions continues. We should appeal and file complaints. But, unfortunately, these legal mechanisms do not work, because if they were, this practice would have long ceased to be. The rights of journalists, rights of citizens are being violated, and the police are acting beyond their competence. These are serious violations, which should lead to at least disciplinary liability. The possibility of initiating a criminal case should be considered. However, that requires mechanisms and tools. Unfortunately, they do not work”.

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