Mass detentions of opposition activists in Vitsebsk (Photo)

Activists of the civil campaign “European Belarus”, Belarusian Christian Democracy, and the “For Freedom” movement, who were going to hold street actions, didn’t begin them.

The youth activists were going to organize a small rally from Freedom square along Lenin Street. But militiamen leading by Alyaksandr Kalinouski, head of the special department on public security of the Kastrychnitski district militia department, were waiting for them at the gathering point, Radio Svaboda reports.

Militiamen checked documents of the people present and ordered them to show their personal things. They found t-shirts with anti-nuclear symbols in their bags; the young people were going to put them on before walking.

Alyaksei Pyalevich, Ales Halavan, Kastus Ivanou, Iryna Pyatova, and Valer Ramanenka were detained and guarded to the Pershamaiski district militia of Minsk. The activists were told it should be checked if they had any relations to a number of crimes recently committed in the city.

Two more opposition activists – member of Conservative Christian Party BPF Syarhei Kavalanka and non-party Valer Misnikau – were guarded to the Kastrychnitski district militia department. They were also found “suspicious”, militia officers said during the detention. Syarhei Kavalenka was going to walk down Lenin Street with a national white-red-white flag and had two long wooden poles to hold the flag. He didn’t even have time to pull the flag out of his pocket.

Other activists were spreading leaflets and brochures by Eduard Brokarov “Mythology of a Peaceful Atom”. They noticed that they met men in mufti in similar caps and with radio sets every twenty steps in Lenin Street.