BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

31/08/2006

12 journalists arrested at Belarusian demonstration

The Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus A dozen journalists covering an opposition protest in a Belarusian town were arrested Thursday, one of the reporters said.

At the protest, the local staff head for opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich chained himself to a post in the center of Bobruisk to protest actions by local authorities, including his dismissal from a teaching post at a local school after he joined Milinkevich's staff.

The protest lasted about 10 minutes before police dispersed it violently, said Yuliya Darashkevich, who was one of the 12 arrested.

She said police beat her, and that she had been charged with hooliganism, which carries a possible jail sentence of up to 15 days. Police declined to comment.

Opposition supporters and independent media face tight restrictions and strong pressure from authorities under authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Milinkevich ran against Lukashenko in March elections that were widely criticized internationally as manipulated.

Milinkevich supporters initiated a weeklong wave of protests that was unprecedented in the country. But the protests lost momentum under rising arrests. Milinkevich was jailed for 15 days in April after leading another protest rally that attracted as many as 10,000 people.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/08/31/europe/EU_GEN_Belarus_Journalists_Arrested.php