BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/03/2008

Police in Belarus round up opposition protesters

MINSK, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - Belarusian riot police arrested dozens of opposition protesters on Tuesday in the capital Minsk, and blocked hundreds of activists from entering a central square.

The protests, staged on the 90th anniversary of the Belarusian People's Republic, ended without violence after police closed off all roads leading to Yakub Kolas Square, and shut down nearby metro stations. Several protesters waved flags of the European Union.

Authorities had given partial consent to the rally, warning that attempts to stray from a permitted route would be stopped. Police broke up the march when protesters began heading toward the presidential residence.

Alexander Milinkevich, an opposition leader, earlier said protesters planned to march along Minsk's central Independence Avenue to the Belarusian leader's residence.

Authorities in Belarus have come under severe international criticism for their clampdowns on dissent. Hardline Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed by Washington "Europe's last dictator", is currently barred, along with other senior officials, from entering the U.S. and the European Union over his clampdown on democratic freedoms.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080325/102215879.html

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