Former presidential candidate Andrej Dźmitryjeŭ suspected of violating public order

January 13, BPN. The Investigative Committee has confirmed that former presidential candidate Andrej Dźmitryjeŭ is under arrest. The investigators suspect him of gross violation of public order.

Dźmitryjeŭ “took an active part in street riots in Minsk between August and September 2020,” the Investigative Committee charged.

It added that the politician crossed Belarus’ border a total of 599 times, 33 times after 2020. Dźmitryjeŭ’s contacts with Westerners and the USA “may indicate coordination of his ‘political’ activities from abroad,” the investigators said, noting that Dźmitryjeŭ “was in contact with the US Department of State and its former head Hillary Clinton.”

Media reported Dźmitryjeŭ’s arrest on the evening of January 11. The politician is held at the detention center on Akreścina Street in Minsk.

Dźmitryjeŭ, 41, run for president in 2020. He is a member of Our Party’s organizing committee and co-chairman of the banned Tell the Truth organization. Dźmitryjeŭ’s latest Facebook post is dated January 3 and criticizes recent changes to the legislation on political parties and public associations.