Silent protest actions in 30 Belarusian towns

Peaceful protest actions were held in over 30 towns across the country on June 22.

Human rights activists from different towns report about actions.

Over 1,000 people gathered in Hrodna, Viasna Human Rights Centre informs.

In Maladzechna, police detained and placed in prison vans almost everyone trying to come to the central square. The exact number of detained people is unknown. Witnesses say there were more people than a week ago.

Uladzimir Malyarchuk, Ales Narkevich, Mikhail Kulesh, and Alyaksei Charapanau were detained in Vileika.

At least four persons were detained in Vitsebsk.

A protester from Zhodzina said about 70 people came to the town’s two main squares. The last week’s action attracted only 19. At least 5 people, among them local journalist Syarhei Salavei, were detained. Street sprinklers were noticed on the square.

“Nasha Niva” readers say about 25 people were detained in Slutsk. As much as 40 people took part in the action, which is more than a week ago.

Lenin Square in Brest was enclosed by crowd control barriers. There was a sport competition on occasion of the 70th anniversary of defence of the Brest Fortress and International Olympic Day. A great number of policemen stood on the square, in nearby streets and yards. 500 protesters went in a direction of the Central department store.

7 people, among them activist Syarhei Trafimchyk, were detained and taken to a local police station in Byarozauka (the Lida district, the Hrodna region). He said the action gathered about 30 people. Shortly after the beginning, police officers began to detained protesters. There was not enough place in a police car, so some detained people had to go to a police station on foot.

Human rights activist Barys Bukhel told Radio Svaboda:

“Mahilou shows a good dynamics: there were 200 people on Lenin Square last Wednesday, but there were 300 people today. Traffic policemen even wrote down registration numbers of the cars than honked. Police did not detain protesters.”