BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

06/01/2007

Police Detain Belarusian Opposition Leader -- Twice

January 6, 2007 -- The leader of Belarus's beleaguered opposition, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, is in custody following his second detention today by police.

Milinkevich's spokesman said he was detained in the morning, while traveling to meet voters ahead of January's local and regional elections, when police said they suspected him of drunken driving.

He was reportedly released after it was determined that he was not intoxicated.

But later today, Milinkevich was again taken into detention, where he remains, reportedly on suspicion of being involved in a traffic accident.

Alyaksandr Milinkevich and Alyaksandr Kazulin unsuccessfully challenged incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in a March election that was dismissed as undemocratic by Western governments.

Lukashenka officially won 83 percent of the vote -- a figure he later said he picked because his actual support would have appeared incredible to foreign observers -- while Milinkevich garnered 6 percent and Kazulin 2 percent.

(AP)

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/f03da04f-969d-4551-a01b-3d9998956633.html