Valentin Lazarenkov, chairman of the Brest regional organization of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB), and Victor Chaikovskiy, an SPB activist, were detained by militiamen on suspicion of transporting anti-state literature.

This was reported by Valentin Lazarenkov himself to the website Praca-by.info.

The trade-union activists were returning from Minsk, where they took part in the conference of entrepreneurs. At the railway station in Brest they were detained by militiamen right at the train car and accompanied to the police station.

"A protocol of search was compiled with suspicion of transporting some anti-state literature," said Valentin Lazarenkov. "No literature of this sort was found; they apologized, which was pleasant. Then, at our presence they telephoned somebody and said that they were unsuccessful."

According to the trade-union leader, recently, the words "anti-state" and "anti-political" more and more often appear in militia documents – both in detention and confiscation protocols.

"However, there's no such term in the legislation," Valentin has added. "For 16 years that our trade union exists, we never had any claims of any anti-state activities. We are engaged in legal methods and operate within legal system. We are an officially registered organization."