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