BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/07/2006

Police detain 30 at Belarus protest

By Andrei Makhovsky

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarussian police on Sunday detained about 30 people who staged a demonstration outside the Russian embassy to demand the Kremlin stop backing hardline President Alexander Lukashenko.

The demonstration was mounted as Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of only a handful of world leaders to congratulate Lukashenko on his re-election in March, hosted a G8 summit in St. Petersburg.

The demonstrators had defied a ban three days after opposition leader Alexander Kozulin was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for hooliganism and incitement to mass disorder in connection with protests against Lukashenko's re-election.

They held up portraits of Belarussians convicted of political offences and of prominent figures who have disappeared during Lukashenko's 12 years in power.

Tough laws against illegal assembly in Belarus keep most opposition gatherings small. Demonstrators taking part in protests like Sunday's are usually released without any further action against them.

Among those detained was veteran opposition leader Anatoly Lebedko, one of several top activists given short jail terms for public order offences in the run-up to Lukashenko's victory.

"For me, this was an act of solidarity with those who have suffered under this regime," Lebedko told Reuters by telephone from inside a police bus.

"That list has been made longer by the conviction of Kozulin. I am expressing solidarity with him too

The outcome of the March poll, in which Lukashenko won 83 percent of the vote, sparked rallies up to 10,000-strong in Minsk for four days. Police then dispersed the demonstrators and more than 600 people were jailed for up to 15 days.

The United States and the EU have long accused Lukashenko of hounding opponents, closing down media and rigging elections.

Both were highly critical of Kozulin's conviction last week and the U.S. ambassador to Minsk said the issue of human rights in Belarus would be discussed at the St Petersburg meeting.

Source:

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-07-16T173000Z_01_L1683104_RTRUKOC_0_US-GROUP-BELARUS.xml&archived=False

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