BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
27/01/2008
Belarusian Authorities Jail, Fine Participants Of Opposition Demonstration
Five district courts in Minsk on March 26 heard the cases of detained participants of the opposition demonstration marking the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of Belarusian People's Republic, RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Belapan reported. Twenty-eight demonstrators were sentenced to terms from three to 15 days in jail and 42 demonstrators were fined from $81 to $489 for participating in an unsanctioned rally. Among those arrested or sentenced are youth activists Zmitser Dashkevich, Artur Finkevich, Ivan Shyla, Krystsina Shatsikava, and Katsyaryna Salauyova. Dashkevich, leader of the unregistered organization Youth Front, received a 15-day jail term. Riot police also detained two journalists from the Minsk-based independent "Nasha Niva" newspaper, staff writer Syamyon Pechanko and photographer Andrey Lyankevich. Both had press cards and were working on the newspaper's online coverage of the demonstration. Pechanko was sentenced to 15 days in jail, while Lyankevich's trial was postponed until March 27. Police also briefly detained Lithuanian reporter Ruta Ribaciauskiene and her cameraman Jonas Griskonis, who had accreditation from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, and seized a videotape containing footage of the demonstration and its violent dispersal. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry on March 26 handed Belarusian Ambassador Uladzimir Drazhyn a note demanding an explanation of the detention and the return of the seized tape. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-270308.asp
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