IAB Europe Stands in Solidarity with IAB Belarus

Last week, IAB Europe shared a statement here from The Association of Advertising Organizations (ARO) and the Association of Interactive Advertising (IAB Belarus) on behalf of the enterprises of the advertising industry of the Republic of Belarus, which expressed their negative attitude towards what is happening in the country after the elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus.

IAB Europe has since learnt that on August 27 their colleague Alexander Vasilevich, Chairman of the board of IAB Belarus was visited by officers of the Financial Investigation Department. Some of the employees of his company including Alexander were taken to the police station. Their phones are still not available. A search was carried out in in the office of Alexander's wife Nadya Zelenkova, the owner of advertising agency Red Graphic. Police officers also visited other family members of Alexander. This intimidating and unlawful action follows on from the beginning of the month when Alexander was detained by police and sentenced to 15 days.

We ask the state authorities to:

• To immediately stop the illegal actions of law enforcement agencies against citizens throughout the country;
• Unconditionally release from prison citizens who took part in peaceful protest actions related to the election results;
• To immediately start a dialogue with civil society about the results of the past election campaign, respect for electoral legislation and protection of the constitutional rights of voters.

IAB Europe fully supports and stands in solidarity with IAB Belarus and the ARO.