Independent trade union's office raided, leader detained
Henadz Fiadynich. File photo (Euroradio)
The office of the REP independent trade union today was raided by Financial Investigations Department (FID) agents, nn.by reports. The trade union's leaders are reportedly accused of tax evasion.
REP's legal inspector Yury Beliakou told journalists that some 10 agents came at around 9 a.m. "They presented a search warrant from a prosecutor and said it was a tax evasion investigation. The case was opened against our leaders Aliaksei Komlik and Henadz Fiadynich. The charges are similar to the case of human rights defender Ales Bialiatski," Beliakou said.
The search lasted for almost six hours. The FID agents seized financial documents, several computers and several hard drives.
Beliakou says he had offred the agents to provide financial documents when they came but the latter reportedly said they would search for drugs and arms. The agents even broke the door into Komlik's office because there was no key for it.
