Police arrests Vincuk Viacorka and Viacaslau Siucyk
"At 2200 Vincuk Viacorka was returning home together with his daughter Ruzana, and I came out to meet them. We took an elevator to the 9th floor, we were blocked by men in leather jackets. They showed IDs, saying they were the agents of the special police, and told him to follow them.
The detention was not explained. Given that the same procedure took place last year after the March 8 action near the Berestje cinema, he is supposed to be taken to the pre-trial prison at Akrescina and will be tried tomorrow on charges of calling the public for an unauthorized action, Viacorka's son Franak told the European Radio for Belarus.
Vincuk Viacorka on Monday took part in a rally of entrepreneurs, where he asked the participants to come to the opposition action on March 25. This could be one of the reasons for his arrest.
ERB: Were the organizers ready for such a rushy clean-up?
Franak: Surely, they were ready. There has already been a plan of underground meetings of the organizing committee and the board of the Belarusian Popular Front. But all of this had been expected to tale place towards the weekend. Usually, repressions would be launched not earlier than one week prior to the action. But the authorities decided to arrest the leader much earlier.
ERB: Is there a plan B if more leaders than expected are going to to be arrested ahead of the action?
Franak: If the leaders of the pro-democracy parties, incuding Vincuk Viacorka, get behind bars and are isolated during the action, the March 25 will have a totally different scenario.
The rally, initially planned to take place at October Square, will simply make no sense, as there will be no political leaders. In this case, the organizing committee will take measures to change the format of the action. But what is for sure is that there will be no negotiations with the authorities."
Lawyer and human rights activist Uladzimir Labkovic told our radio:
"We regards these detentions as the continuation of the shameful policy in Belarus, when the controlled courts are used by police forces to arrest the main political organizers ahead of the mass rallies.
They are detained on trumped-up charges in order to be isolated at the moment of the action so that they could not be together with the people.
They continue doing what they would always do. The grip will not be loosened. This is a clear message to our society and the international community that this regime cannot be improved. It remains a dictatorial regime. Political prisoners continue to remain in this country."
It appears that the authorities that learned a lesson last year are set not to allow massive protests, which have become a signature of the recent springs in Belarus.
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