Сергий Мельянец. Фото: Facebook
The eldest son of former Belarusian political prisoner and Christian preacher Siarhei Melyanets has been detained by Polish border guards. Melyanets himself wrote about this on Facebook.
According to him, border guards came to his son Ivan’s apartment, told him to sign documents, gather his belongings and follow them.
The son managed to call his father, after which his phone became unreachable. A lawyer later located the young man at a border service facility at Warsaw Chopin Airport.
“They want to keep him there overnight (according to the lawyer, there is no food or proper conditions there). Procedural actions are to begin tomorrow. Then there are options: either he will be released with an order to leave Poland, or immediate deportation to Belarus, or placement in a detention centre for those awaiting deportation”, Siarhei said.
Melyanets went to the airport but was unable to see his son.
“I am sitting at the airport, waiting for news. I am praying”, he wrote.
Siarhei Melyanets was detained in March 2024 at the Minsk City Court, where he had come to support journalist Ihar Karnei. After serving two terms of administrative detention, he was released and later left for Poland with his family.