BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
10/03/2008
Belarusian Activist To Remain In Jail, Other Activists Questioned
A district prosecutor's office in Minsk on March 7 ruled that small-business activist Syarhey Parsyukevich should remain in a pretrial detention center, Belapan reported. Parsyukevich was recently jailed for three days pending a decision on criminal charges against him. He is accused of attacking a police officer while serving a 15-day prison term for his participation in a January 10 demonstration in Minsk. Parsyukevich claims that he did not attack anyone, but that a prison warden attacked him. On March 9, Belarusian police detained 32 members of the Youth Front organization who gathered for a meeting at the Minsk office of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions. Police officers entered the office under the pretext that litter was tossed from the office's window, and ordered participants to come to the police station. After identity checks at the police station, the activists were released. Police took similar action in mid-February, detaining at least 30 Youth Front members when they gathered at a private home for a meeting of the organization's council. The Youth Front has unsuccessfully applied for registration with the Belarusian Justice Ministry five times, and is therefore considered an unregistered organization by the government. The group was recently registered in the Czech Republic. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-100308.asp
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