Belarusian human rights activists have been trying to contact Sergey Eremeev and find out about his fate for over a month and a half. On January 12, 2024, a local lawyer visited the Omsk pre-trial detention center, where he was informed that Eremeev had been transferred to Irkutsk. On January 29, another lawyer was told at the Irkutsk pre-trial detention center that Eremeev was being transferred to Moscow. Recently in Moscow, at the corresponding pre-trial detention center, our third lawyer received a response stating that 'Eremeev is not here and has never been.'
Belarusian Sergey Eremeev was detained by FSB officers in the Omsk region of Russia, as reported on December 7, 2023. He is accused of committing two explosions on the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) in Buryatia on November 29 and 30, 2023. The FSB claims that he allegedly confessed to transporting eight explosive devices under the control of Ukrainian special services, delivering them to Buryatia, and attaching them to freight tanks. As reported by the Belarusian security forces-linked channel 'BAZA', one of the explosions occurred as a train passed through a tunnel, damaging two fuel tanks, and another fuel tank caught fire. Another explosion damaged another train, in which four fuel tanks caught fire and two were damaged by fire. The terrorist act, how investigators named the accident, temporarily blocked traffic on the BAM.
Eremeev was last seen two months ago in court, when the issue of applying the measure of restraint in the form of detention was being decided. Since then, there has been no news of him. We do not know where he is, in what condition, or if he is alive at all. Knowing about the dozens of arrests made by the KGB in Eremeev's hometown of Novopolotsk at the behest of the FSB, as well as the tension between the security forces of Belarus and Russia caused by the explosions, we cannot rule out the worst.
We believe that the Russian authorities may be deliberately hiding Sergey Eremeev (if he is still alive) to conceal evidence of possible torture (given the allegations of organizing explosions under the control of Ukrainian special services).
We believe that there is a real threat to the health and life of Sergey Eremeev, given the complexity of the accusation and the general attitude towards those associated with Ukraine.
We demand that an independent lawyer be allowed to visit Sergey Eremeev to ensure that the Belarusian from Novopolotsk is alive and well, and we demand that he be provided with the right to defense and transparency of the criminal process.
BY_help initiative
BYSOL Foundation
"A Country to Live In" Foundation
Dissidentby Initiative
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