Three young opposition activists in Minsk sentenced to jail

Three members of an opposition youth organization called Malady Front were sentenced Tuesday to jail terms following their arrest in Minsk the previous day, said the Vyasna human rights group.

Dzmitry Kramyanetski and Mikalay Dzemidzenka received 10-day jail terms each, while Raman Vasilyew was sentenced to 12 days in jail, according to the report.

All of them were found guilty of “petty hooliganism.”

Messrs. Vasilyew and Kramyanetski were arrested at an apartment in the Belarusian capital city. Plainclothes policemen opened the door using a duplicate key and ordered everyone in it to get down on the floor, reported the press office of Malady Front.

Several minutes later, Messrs. Vasilyew and Kramyanetski were led out of the building by the police.

It became known later in the day that their associate Mikalay Dzemidzenka, deputy chairman of Malady Front, was also arrested.

The press office linked the arrests to a white-red-white flag that was displayed in downtown Minsk on May 14.