Irdorath Folk Band Musicians Detained By SOBR Fighters In Belarus

They were accused of playing at the protests.

For participation in the August protests, a "group of pipers" was detained, according to a message posted on the Telegram channel by the press secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Volha Chamadanava.

"Yesterday, near Minsk, operatives, in cooperation with the police of the Minsk region and with the help of the SOBR, detained 16 representatives of the protest movement," reads the commentary of the Main Directorate to Combat Organized Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to the ministry, in August last year, "a group of bagpipers repeatedly led a column of protesters and, using musical instruments, involved citizens in an unauthorized mass march."

"The performance of the coordinators strengthened the protest mood of the participants and pushed them to unlawful actions against the police," the security officials said.