"KGB arrested the reporter of Radio "Ratsiya". The journalist had been released, all the tapes on the recorder were erased"
On January 24th at 11:30 AM journalist Gennady Barbarich was detained at the club named after Dzerzhinsky.
Reporter of Radio “Ratsyja” Gennady Barbarich interviewed the wives of prisoners. KGB officers approached him, they asked him the documents and the reasons for his being there. After that, he was taken with officers.
Relatives of inmates with handovers are awaiting inside of the Dzerzhinsky club – culture house of KGB, because they were forbidden to wait near the building. This created an unfavorable image of the authorities. They have to stand every day for several hours in lines to transfer gifts to relatives, wrote "Nasha Niva".
Information from the International Observation Mission:
The Mission contacted Gennady Barbarychem, who reported that the detention was brief and he is free now. But Gennady said that his working notes on the recorder had been erased.
"According to officers’ explanation the reason of my detention and deletion of records is – I was recording at secure building, where, according to the instructions the audio, video, photo-shooting is prohibited. But I was not in the KGB building, but in the culture club of KGB, where concerts are often took place, which are recorded on photo and video equipment"
International observation missions will continue to monitor the situation of journalists and human rights defenders.
Mission contacts:
tel: +375 33 636 05 00 / +375 33 340 67 72
e-mail: [email protected]