BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/04/2006

Belarusian youth opposition leader given 15 days in jail for illegal protest

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - Belarusian authorities kept up pressure on the opposition Friday, sentencing a youth leader to 15 days in jail a day after opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich and three of his deputies were handed similar sentences.

A Minsk court sentenced Zmicer Dashkevich, head of the youth organization Malady Front, for taking part in an unauthorized demonstration.

The charges against Dashkevich and the other jailed opposition figures stemmed from a Wednesday opposition rally that attracted about 10,000 people. It was the largest opposition gathering since Milinkevich spearheaded a March 19 demonstration to protest against elections that handed Lukashenko a third term.

That rally set off a week of protests.

Wednesday's rally, marking the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident and opposition claims Lukashenko's government is lying about how it is coping with the disaster's consequences, received official approval. But officials later said it was illegal.

The sentences put almost all of the opposition's top figures behind bars, leaving in doubt the prospects for a planned demonstration Monday marking the May Day holiday.

Source:

http://www.940news.com/nouvelles.php?cat=24&id=42869