Fingerprinting followed by footwear printing in Belarus

Besides being fingerprinted, civil activists are also being footwear printed on the eve of the Day of Freedom in Belarus. The leader of the coordination council of Minsk entrepreneur Alyaksandr Makayeu was among the first people to have gone through this procedure. An investigator of Moscow District Department of the Interior phoned him and said that his home number was on some “black list” and summoned him for an interrogation. He said that is was needed to investigate the case of a robbery of a currency exchange office in one of Minsk hypermarkets.

Makayeu gave explanations, was asked to be fingerprinted and something more:

"He asked for my fingerprints. I replied that I had already been fingerprinted in Moscow District Department of the Interior in connection with a meeting of entrepreneurs and suggested he should look through their catalogue. Then he told me I had to be footwear printed. And I agreed… Maybe they are conducting some experiments”.