Leader of street artists detained, to stand trial

Aleh Larychau’s friends and members of the street art community Signal have reported his disappearance. He left a pizza house situated near the metro station Institute of Culture at about 1 a.m. on April 27. He was accompanied by independent analyst Syarhei Chaly. The friends parted and nobody has seen Larychau since then.  

The activist is not answering the phone. He last visited his Vkontakte account on the afternoon of April 26.

Larychau is arrested and he will stand trial for ‘petty hooliganism’ in Minsk's Central District Court on Friday April 28, tut.by reports quoting his girlfriend Hanna.

Larychau’s street art community is usually the first to report social graffitis appearing in Minsk. Ex-Minister of Labour Mariana Shchotkina, Minister of Internal Affairs Ihar Shunevich (painted in the uniform of Stalin’s People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs – he was wearing it at the Victory Day parade last May), chief of Minsk riot police Dzmitry Balaba, Minister of Information Liliya Ananich and head of the Belarusian State Broadcasting Company Henadz Davydzka were painted. The officials’ statements are usually written under the graffiti: Shchotkina invented the freeloaders’ tax and Davydzka suggested forbidding people to leave comments on the Internet.

Звычайна графіці трымаюцца на сценах па некалькі гадзінаў, пасля іх змываюць камунальнікі.

4 красавіка двое невядомых моцна збілі Алега Ларычава ў пад'ездзе шматкватэрнага дома, дзе ён жыве. "Для мяне асабіста гэты напад застаецца загадкай. Спрабую зразумець — і не магу зразумець, — сказаў тады Ларычаў у інтэрв'ю Еўрарадыё. — Але я асабіста збіраюся рабіць больш. Гэта такі мне быў пінок пад зад, што час не толькі займацца інфармацыйнай працай у інтэрнэце, але і падумаць пра новыя муралы".