13 August 2020, Thursday, 18:04 133

Another 1 Ukrainian Woman Detained At Protests In Belarus, Authorities Do Not Inform Ukraine About Whereabouts Of Detainees - MFA

Редактор: Даша Зубкова

Another Ukrainian woman was detained on August 12 during the protests in Belarus, but the Belarusian authorities do not inform Ukraine of the whereabouts of the detainees.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced this at a briefing, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The Embassy of Ukraine sent two notes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus with a request to provide information about all citizens of Ukraine who were detained by law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Belarus from August 9 to 12, as well as provide information on the reasons for the detention and places of detention of Kostiantyn Reutskyi, Yevhen Vasyliev and a third citizen, Oksana Alioshyna, who was also detained yesterday," he said.

Reutskyi and Vasyliev, detained on August 12 in Minsk, are volunteers of the Vostok SOS public organization.

"They are accused of participation in mass events, which manifested itself in the committing of actions to organize mass riots, which were accompanied by violence against the person, pogroms, arson, destruction of property or armed resistance to representatives of the authorities," Kuleba said.

According to him, the sanction of this article provides for imprisonment for a term of 3 to 8 years.

“This morning, the Ukrainian consul visited the two largest temporary detention centers in Minsk. But we could not get any information about the possible stay of these citizens of Ukraine there. The official bodies of Belarus do not inform us about the whereabouts of our citizens. In fact, what is happening? The consul goes around all points, where the detainees can be kept in order to establish at least some data on the stay of our compatriots," the minister said.

He added that on August 9-12, more than 6,000 people were detained in Minsk, so the search for Ukrainian citizens is difficult.

Ukraine demands from Belarus to organize a meeting of the consul with the detainees, as well as their immediate release to return home.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry recommended Ukrainians in Belarus avoid crowded places and not take part in demonstrations and protests.

In connection with the development of the situation with the three detainees on August 12, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a new recommendation to the citizens of Ukraine today - to refrain from traveling to Belarus until the situation stabilizes and further announcements.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, earlier in Belarus during the protests, a Ukrainian photojournalist was beaten, but he had already been discharged from the hospital, and 9 Ukrainian citizens were detained but had already been released.

On August 9, the presidential election was held in Belarus, in which, according to the Central Election Commission, the voter turnout was 84%, and the current President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has been heading the country since 1994, won with more than 80% of the votes.

Tens of thousands of people in Belarus went to protest, and during clashes with law enforcement officers more than 6,000 were detained, there are wounded and killed.