Press Khata for "Press Club"

Detained employees of the Belarusian Press Club remain in custody

On December 21, they were detained in the same way as Viktor Babariko and his son Edward in June: searches in apartments and in the office, then interrogations in the Department of Financial Investigations (DFR) of the State Control Committee, where they all disappeared for a day. “All of them” is the founder of Press Club Julia Slutskaya and her son Peter, the program director Alla Sharko, financial director Sergei Olshevsky and director of the Press Club Academy Sergey Yakupov.

On December 21, Julia Slutskaya flew with her daughter and grandchildren from Egypt, where she had a vacation, and was detained at the Minsk airport. Her son Peter was detained in the office. The rest are at home or on the street. In Alla’s house, they broke the door, and her lawyer Sergei Zikratsky, who urgently arrived at Alla, rudely put it out of the apartment.

In the evening, when it became known that all the detainees were in the DFR, their relatives began to call there.

But, as in the case of Babariko, they were replied that there was no “press club” within the walls of the department and close.

Only a day later, when the relatives of the detainees phoned all the country's insulators, they were told that all Press Club employees were in the IVS in the surroundings and detained for 72 hours. Then, the state-owned commentary of the DFR appeared in the state publications, according to which a “check on the facts of violations of the tax legislation of the Republic of Belarus against officials of the cultural and educational institution“ Journalistic Workshop “Press Club” ”and other business entities, including the receipt of large cash, are conducted.

And here everything becomes clear. On December 17, the European Union approved the next package of sanctions against the Belarusian authorities. Sanctions were made by large officials, judges who sentences for political cases, the Lukashenko Koshelkov company and some state enterprises (for example, the Minsk Wheel tractor factory). On December 21, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei announced the response: “A decision was made to limit the activities of a number of political funds in the Republic of Belarus, as well as to revise the implementation of a number of so -called humanitarian, educational, cultural programs that are engaged in the relevant political institutions in Belarus, including those operating and under the auspices of the embassies of foreign states.”

After these words, it became obvious that it should be expected to be indicative repressions regarding some non-governmental organization.

In the evening of the same day, the security forces came to the Press Club.

On December 24, it became known in the evening that all the detainees at the day of interrogations in the DFR and remain in custody as suspects under Part 2 of Article 243 (“Evaluation of taxes on an especially large amount” - the sanction provides for up to seven years of imprisonment). The preventive measure was chosen by the General Prosecutor's Office. Now the criminal case will be transferred to the Investigative Committee, which within 10 days will decide on the charges.

In principle, everything is clear. Firstly, the authorities really need money, and it takes all steps to shake it not only from entrepreneurs, but also from NGOs receiving foreign financing.

Secondly, the press club is an ideal goal for demonstrative repression in response to European sanctions. Not only a non -governmental organization, but also related to journalists - maximum attention to the case, the maximum indignation of the West, the maximum level of intimidation is guaranteed. But there are also third. This is revenge. The proof of this is the arrest, including the son of Julia Slutskaya Peter. Peter-the operator, was mainly engaged in the shooting of Press Club and had nothing to do with the accounting department. But he was arrested in the same case, as Viktor Babariko was arrested in June. His son Edward is also sitting in the criminal case of his father. So family arrest in political affairs is always personal revenge.

On the same day, when it became known that all five “Preplubovites” remain in custody, a congratulation on the New Year appeared on the Internet page of Press Club. It says: “Our colleagues who remain in the pre -trial detention center, we wish you strength, confidence in our rightness and power of the word. When we wrote these lines, we did not assume that we would write them and ourselves. We are really waiting for everyone at large! "

Since the beginning of protests, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, 391 journalist was detained. There are ten in the pre -trial detention center in criminal articles. It was the most leap for Belarusian journalists for a year.