Detained graffitists announced political prisoners
Human rights defenders have called their detention an attempt to stop the civil activity of the youth.
Human rights defenders are urging to stop the prosecution of Vyachaslau Kasinerau, Yaraslau Ulyanenkau and arrested Maksim Pyakarski and Vadzim Zharomski suspected of malicious hooliganism. They are also urging to release the arrested young men without delay, Viasna reports.
The young men were detained for the graffiti ‘Belarus must be Belarusian’ painted on the building of a former military unit and for painting over a billboard that used to show policemen in Harestki Street in Minsk on August 11. Ulyanenkau and Russian citizen Pavel (surname unknown) have been released on recognizance. The others are in jail. Vyachaslau Kasinerau is in hospital. He got there with a double jaw fracture right after the detention.
The young men did not violate the public order, Viasna human rights defenders say. The contents of their graffiti testify to the absence of any hooliganism motives. The policemen’s actions were too harsh.
There are reasons to consider Pyakarski and Zharomski political prisoners, human rights defenders claimed. The authorities’ harsh actions before the presidential election are aimed at stopping the civil activity of the youth, they believe.
