Gennady Fedynich commented on the search in the REP office

On July 16, a search was conducted in the Minsk office of the Belarusian Trade Union of workers of radio and electronic industry (REP). The REP leader Gennady Fedynich commented on the situation in detail:

– The first, wooden, door is broken down; the second door is sealed with the seal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We start looking for the traces. A little bit later, the Investigative Committee confirmed that the search was conducted in the TimeAct institution; the search had nothing to do with the REP trade union. However, the REP’s property is damaged! These vandals should have found the telephone numbers of designated employees to come and open the door. After all, this is the fourth search in the trade union, and we have always opened the door in order to preserve our property.

– The Duty Officer of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee directed us to the duty officer of the Sovetsky District Department of Internal Affairs, then the duty officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus redirected us to the Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the city of Minsk the duty officer of which told us that no one would provide them with such information. The usual story: breaking the door down is elementary, and finding someone to remove the seal is already a problem.

– Until lunchtime we were going round in circles, they could not open the office door. And since the door is not locked but only sealed, anyone can enter the premises easily. I called them on Friday, they only suggested that I should tell them the seal number by which they would figure out who affixed it. Still no progress.

The REP office door was broken open although the search has nothing to do with the REP. So who will be held liable for the damaged property? – this is the rhetorical question from the independent trade union.