BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
19/02/2008
Belarusian Entrpreneurs Hold Protest In Minsk
Around 50 small-business owners and their associates on February 18 held an unsanctioned demonstration in central Minsk to protest recent restrictions on the activities of small businesses, Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. Protesters demanded the reversal of the presidential decree forbidding them from hiring employees other than three family members, as well as unbiased coverage of their activities on state television. After an hour and a half, riot police dispersed the demonstrators, detaining several people. Among those detained were Movement For Freedom leader Alyaksandr Milinkevich. After spending several hours at the police station, all were released without charges. Two days before, during an unrelated event police detained at least 30 members of the unregistered organization Youth Front who gathered in a private house outside Minsk to hold a meeting of the organization's council. All of them were released several hours later the same day without charges. The Justice Ministry has rejected the Youth Front's applications for legal status five times, though it was recently registered in the Czech Republic. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-190208.asp
Archive
