Atroshchankau: Our release is an achievement
One of the leaders of the European Belarus campaign, Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, describes the details of the trial that he, Anatol Lyabedzka and Syarhei Kalyakin
stood.
Euroradio: We do not even know whether we should congratulate you or express sympathy.
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: Of course, I am glad to be free but I am not satisfied as a verdict of guilty has been pronounced. Moreover, we are in the Transport Department of the Interior that detained us at the moment. Actually, they have stolen our passports. They are refusing to give them back to us and say that they have been sent to our places of residence. However, they have not presented any reference.
Euroradio: What are you planning to do?
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: We are trying to decide what to do. We are phoning various chiefs but it turns out that the authorities have not only deprived us of the right to travel, they have deprived us of the right to be called citizens.
Euroradio: What did you expect from the trial?
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: As a citizen, I knew that a verdict of not guilty had to be pronounced. However, taking the current situation into account, it was impossible. That is why I think that the fact that my colleagues and I are free is an achievement. It is not only our achievement; it is an achievement of the collective solidarity that was expressed with the help of journalists. I know that the issue was made public and I would like to thank journalists, activists, relatives and ordinary people who supported me and helped distribute the information.
Euroradio: How do you think, why did the trial take so long?
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: It is clear that the detention and the epic that followed were connected with our visit to Brussels and the interviews that we had to give in Moscow and Brussels. The situation was like a thorn in the flesh for the authorities, that is why we had to wait for the trial of the whole day yesterday. We spent two days waiting for the trial.
Euroradio: What happened to you at that time?
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: We were delivered to Orsha Transport Department of the Interior and then to the detention centre. They kept lying that we would be released soon. Of course, our detention had been planned before we even left as there were many typical people in plain clothes in the carriage. The fact that our passports are gone demonstrates that it is just another dirty trick organized by the authorities and police.
Euroradio: How was the trial? Where there any witnesses? What documents did they read out?
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: There were only three witnesses, all of them were policemen. Kalyakin, Lyabedzka and me caught them out many times. They blushed, stumped and used bad language in the court room – it was clear that the case had been trumped up and I think that a verdict of “not guilty” is impossible in the country now.
Euroradio: How did policemen behave, did they use physical force or bad language?
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau: There were no problems with their behaviour. Of course, you cannot feel okay when you get detained illegally even if the attitude is more or less normal. The atmosphere of lawlessness and impunity was oppressive.
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Anatol Lyabedzka, Syarhei Kalyakin and Alyaksandr Atroshchankau were made to get off the train “Minsk-Moscow” in Orsha on Tuesday. They were going to leave for Brussels from the Russian capital. They were accused of hooliganism and fined for 350 thousand roubles each.
