Milinkevich: 500 Arrested Today

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000332

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR INR
KIEV ALSO FOR USAID

E.O. 12958: 03/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL BO
SUBJECT: Milinkevich: 500 Arrested Today

Refs: (A) Minsk 331, (B) Minsk 259

Classified by DCM Constance Phlipot for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: On March 24 opposition presidential candidate
held a press conference where he estimated that around 500 of
his supporters had been arrested early that morning, along with
nearly 300 more the previous two days. He called on authorities
to release all detainees, and appealed to the international
community to help the victims of the regime. After the press
conference, several Milinkevich activists told Poloff that an
estimated 1,000 of their people are now in jail. Most face
kangaroo courts that last at most minutes, without any access to
a defense lawyer, before they are convicted. They added that
Milinkevich deputy campaign manager Viktor Karnienko is in the
hospital with a concussion after unknown assailants beat him
with a baseball bat. End summary.


Hundreds Arrested
--------------


2. (U) Poloff attended a Milinkevich press conference on March

24. Milinkevich stated that he believes around 500 people were
arrested early that morning when police broke-up the
demonstration on October Square. He claimed no one knows
exactly how many were detained as police have refused to provide
names to anyone, including relatives waiting outside the
detention center. He added that the authorities arrested 170
people on March 21 and around 100 on March 22. Those detained
were generally bringing supplies to the protesters on the
square. None of those detained are allowed access to a lawyer.
Even with these arrests, Milinkevich believed it to be a victory
that his people were able to publicly demonstrate in Minsk's
central square for three days.


Requests for the International Community
--------------


3. (U) Milinkevich demanded that the authorities release "all
these innocent people, who only used peaceful methods to
demonstrate." He also asked the international community to help
all those fired from their jobs, expelled from school, or jailed
for their political activities, and he called upon Russia to
reconsider its recognition of the election. Milinkevich thanked
Poland and Polish schools for offering to help expelled
Belarusian students, and requested that the U.S. and EU put into
place concrete sanctions against everyone, especially police,
judges, and state journalists/propagandists who have played a
role in the on-going repression. He concluded that soon Belarus
will be free, that Belarusian society is waking up and
Lukashenko will not last five more years.


Qs and As: March 25/EU Statements/Milinkevich Tired
-------------- --------------


4. (U) Responding to press questions, Milinkevich said that his
supporters would gather in October Square at noon on March 25 to
celebrate a traditional Belarusian holiday. [Note: This is the
anniversary of the short-lived 1918 Belarusian state, and is
usually only celebrated by nationalist groups.] He added that
perhaps the authorities will not let them meet in the square,
but that he did not know where they would go if this were to
happen. When asked what Milinkevich expects from the EU, he
responded that he wishes they would make stronger statements of
support. Last, when asked why he did not stay full time with
the demonstration on October Square, Milinkevich replied that he
spent a long day on his feet on Election Day and was already
tired when he arrived at the square. His supporters told him to
go home and rest, and to come back later, so he did.


1,000 in Jail
--------------


5. (C) After the press conference, Poloff spoke with a number of
people in Milinkevich's campaign team. One estimated that
around 1,000 opposition activists are currently in detention.
Another said she had left the square the day before to get some
coffee and to use the bathroom. She explained that the police
ringing the square were calling in descriptions of all those
leaving, who were then grabbed a block or so away by flying

MINSK 00000332 002 OF 002


squads of police. She said she was standing at a kiosk when a
police officer grabbed her by the collar and threw her into a
bus with 12 others. She was taken immediately to the BKGB's
Okrestina detention center, where all the detainees were lined
up along a wall as they waited their turn before a judge. When
her turn came, she said the trial lasted only three minutes,
there was no lawyer, only the police were allowed to give
testimony, and she was fined BYR 62,000 [USD 30] for allegedly
swearing in public. Still, she considers herself lucky that her
journalist credentials kept her out of jail. A young student
arrested with her was sentenced to 10 days in jail for bringing
a thermos of tea to the square. Another Milinkevich supporter
chimed in that it is amazing so many Milinkevich supporters have
suddenly started using foul language.


6. (C) The female journalist explained that she saw Vyacheslav
Sivchik while at Okrestina at 1800 on March 23. [Note: Press
reports mistakenly claimed Sivchik left the square in a U.S.
Embassy vehicle (ref A). Sivchik is Milinkevich's staffer
responsible for managing the October Square demonstration.] She
said Sivchik was accompanied by five police wearing ski masks
and was very red in the face. She spoke to him very briefly,
and thought this was due to the fact the police held him in the
car for some time with his head down between his knees. She did
not think he displayed any signs of having been beaten. [Note:
Sivchik's mother called Embassy March 24. She had just visited
her son in the hospital. He told her that he had been called by
someone claiming to be the Embassy's Protocol Assistant to
arrange a meeting with Ambassador. He therefore left the square
and got into what he thought was an Embassy vehicle. Instead,
it was a police vehicle. The police allegedly drove him several
blocks before beating him heavily. Only then did they take him
to Okrestina.]


7. (C) Poloff also spoke with Vintsuk Vyachorka, leader of the
Belarusian Popular Front (BNF). Vyachorka was released from
jail the day before after serving a 15-day sentence for
participating in an unsanctioned mass gathering. Unlike his
previous stays in jail, Vyachorka claimed this time the
authorities completely isolated inmates from all news from
outside. Vyachorka served his sentence in Okrestina, and stated
that nearly all the prisoners there were incarcerated for
political activities. Based on the sheet every prisoner had to
sign for meals, Vyachorka believes there were 232 opposition
activists in Okrestina before the election. The detention
center was also over crowded, with 14 prisoners (all political)
being in Vyachorka's eight-person cell. Despite the hardships,
he said he and the other prisoners were not mistreated.


8. (C) Vyachorka also informed Poloff that Milinkevich deputy
campaign manager Viktor Karnienko, who had been beaten outside
his apartment by unknown assailants on March 23, was in the
hospital with a concussion. Vyachorka said the attackers,
believed to be in the security services, repeatedly hit
Karnienko with a baseball bat.


KROL