There are more and more of them

The number of suspects in the criminal case of mass riots in Minsk on the night of December 19-20 has increased to 25 people.

According to the Belarusian human rights center “Viasna”, cited by RIA Novosti, recently a member of the initiative group of opposition presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, Dmitry Novik, and a supporter of candidate Grigory Kostusev, Nikita Likhovid, were included in the list (the latter, sentenced to 15 days of arrest, is sitting in Zhodino pre-trial detention center), as well as the head of the election headquarters of candidate Nikolai Statkevich Sergei Martselev, who was taken off the train on the Belarusian-Polish border a few days ago.

The list includes seven presidential candidates - Sannikov, Kostusev, Statkevich, Aleksey Mikhalevich, Vladimir Neklyaev, Vitaly Rymashevsky and Dmitry Uss. Kostusev and Uss are free. Kostusev was detained during the unrest, but was released on his own recognizance after giving an interview to Belarusian television, where he said he regretted the unrest and blamed his colleagues. True, when he came out, he accused the authorities of provocative actions that led to the riots. Uss is also under recognizance not to leave.

In addition, the list includes Statkevich's confidant Alexander Arestovich, Sannikov's confidant Dmitry Bondarenko, Neklyaev's confidant Sergei Voznyak, Neklyaev's head of staff Andrey Dmitriev, Sannikov's head of staff Vladimir Kobets, confidant of another candidate Yaroslav Romanchuk Oleg Korban, another confidant Romanchuk and the head of his party Anatoly Lebedko, Sannikov’s press secretary Alexander Otroshchenkov, head of Romanchuk’s election headquarters Anatoly Pavlov, head of Rymashevsky’s election headquarters Pavel Sevyarynets and Neklyaev’s confidant Alexander Feduta. Let us note that Yaroslav Romanchuk escaped detention, apparently due to the fact that on December 20 he publicly condemned the behavior of other presidential candidates, who, according to him, provoked the riots. He asked Lukashenko to release Lyabedzka, but did not get his way.

There are also people on the list who are not directly related to the election campaign. These are two journalists - the editor of the opposition website Natalya Radina and an employee of Novaya Gazeta, the author of the Daily Journal and Sannikov's wife Irina Khalip - as well as the deputy chairman of the international youth organization "Young Front" registered in the Czech Republic, Anastasia Polozhanko. But if the cowardly and cruel regime of Alexander Lukashenko can consider all of the above people as enemies, at least from the point of view of its logic, then the inclusion in it of police lieutenant Alexander Klaskovsky, who during the riots shouted at the riot police and appealed to their conscience for that they beat people. This was enough for them to break into his apartment the next day, arrest him, and then issue a press release in which Klaskovsky was exposed as a policeman who was dishonestly performing his duties.

Sannikov and Khalip were severely beaten during their arrest. Neklyaev was beaten earlier and taken to the hospital, from where he was picked up and taken away. Doctors were not allowed to see Sannikov, whose leg was injured, and a lawyer was not allowed to see Neklyaev until December 28 (on December 28, his defense attorneys were able to attend the interrogation, but the oppositionist was not charged), but medical assistance was provided.