On 8 December, state media ran numerous reports on the arrest of a "dangerous group of terrorists". Among those detained were a mother and son, Irina and Anton Melkher.
Irina Melkher is a sole trader and a pensioner. For many years she has had a stall at the «Stary Gorod» market in Brest. Lately, like many others, she had been thinking a lot about the situation in Belarus and was worried about it.
Anton has lived with his parents for many years: he helped his mother with her business and his retired father with the apiary and the vegetable garden in the village. The young man was learning programming languages, and two months before his arrest he had started taking on his first small development jobs and handled them successfully.
Irina and Anton were detained at their home. Anton was taken first. Irina went to find out where he was being held and came back with investigators. Both of them were taken from the house, along with all the computer equipment. No documents about the arrest or the search were left behind.
Irina's husband could not call anyone — he was left with a broken phone and bad legs (at the time he could only get around on crutches). The family learned about the arrest only thanks to neighbours who dropped in to check that everything was all right.
Everyone in both cells where Irina and Anton are held has had Covid-19. In the KGB pre-trial detention centre, Irina Melkher hardly sleeps; she recently suffered a hypertensive crisis, and her health is getting worse every day.
After the KGB added 17 people to its list of "terrorists", the family began receiving notices that property previously seized was now frozen. In addition, it is now impossible even to send money to the prisoners' personal accounts in the SIZO for "otovarka" (money in prisoners' personal accounts used for purchases at the prison shop). The relatives are glad that they can at least still send parcels.
Nothing is known about how the case is progressing: the lawyers have been forbidden to disclose anything, and the investigators are not saying anything either. The relatives, like the whole of Belarus, learn all the details only from reports on state TV channels. Meanwhile, Irina and Anton's pre-trial detention is extended again and again, and they remain in the SIZO.