BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/03/2007

Belarusian Police Detain Opposition Youth Activists Ahead Of Planned Rally

On March 22, police officers detained several dozen activists of the youth democratic movement in Minsk and the provinces, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. In most cases, the detainees were warned that they may be punished under administrative law if they take part in the rally the opposition has planned for March 25 to mark Freedom Day (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 22, 2007). Apart from warnings by police, Belarusian courts have recently resorted to jailing some youth activists, routinely charging them with the use of obscene language in public, to prevent their participation in the March 25 demonstration. On March 22, a district court in Minsk sentenced Barys Haretski, an activist of the opposition group Youth Front, to 12 days in jail on obscenity charges. The same day, a court in Pinsk sentenced Belarusian Popular Front activist Alyaksandr Ramanovich to five days in jail on similar charges. In an apparent attempt to distract the attention of young people in Minsk from the March 25 opposition rally, the city authorities have announced an open-air concert to be staged in the capital on the same day at noon. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/03/3-CEE/cee-230307.asp