Vitebsk oppositionists arrested for white-red-white flags (Photo)
1- 3.11.2009, 9:40
Some activists of democratic forces in Vitsebsk walked through the town with Belarusian national flags on November 2.
Syarhei Kavalenka, an activist of the Conservative Christian Part BPF, carried the biggest 2 by 8 meters flag. According to Radio Svaboda, passers-by took pictures of the event.
The activists walked from Summer Amphitheatre to the City Hall on the right side of the street, then crossed the street and returned to Freedom square. A military car stopped them near the city executive committee. Syarhei Kavalenka and Taras Surhan, who also carried a white-red-white flag, were detained by militiamen and guarded to the Kastrychnitski district militia department.
A report on organising and holding an unauthorized action was drawn up against Kavalenka and Surhan. Both activists have numerous convictions for raising white-red-white flags during pickets in Vitsebsk and Haradok. The oppositionists spent the night in a temporary detention facility.
Independent journalist Alena Stsyapanava attracted close attention of militia. Militiamen detained her at a bus stop, ordered to show her personal thing in her bag and her passport, wrote down her personal data and released her.
