Today (3-rd of September 2010) at morning our friends and comrades were kidnapped by police. Six people are missing. We manage to get know about their kidnapping only several hours later from their neighbors which said that unknown people in police uniform took away everybody situating the apartment. Fate of these people is still unknown this moment. Nobody responds to cell telephone calls. Any attempts to get know something about their location in Minsk police departments give no result, cause cops deny any involvement in this event. Apartment of another not detained activist is kept under observation by police patrol, and these cops don’t disclose the reasons for their presence.
All these people are social activists, participating in various social movements aimed at protecting human rights, workers rights and freedom of access to information. We believe these abductions are directly related to the season of “elections” in Belarus, because every time they take place, there is increased repressions of social activists by authorities. They tries to isolate people from access to any unwanted information that way.
We belive it is kidnapping, because there is no information about the fates of people and reasons for their detention still. Such actions are a serious violation of the rights and freedoms of every person. We urge all unindifferent people to help in finding our comrades, and in media coverage of this incident. If you have information on the case or can somehow help us write to antiatombel AT riseup DOT net.
It’s obvious for us that the trigger for repression was the incident near the Russian Embassy in Minsk, occurred on August 30. A pressrelease of previously unknown anonymous group of anarchists, declared publicly its responsibility for the attack, followed in two days, gave the secret services a convenient excuse for the actions of intimidation.
UPDATE at 23:35: Location of the detainees is still unknown. However, it was reported that phones, computers and various literature were confiscated from them. And police is in search of 5 activists.
Keep track of updates.
Friends and comrades of kidnapped.
https://belarus.indymedia.org/20684
