MINSK, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - Belarusian opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich was released from custody Friday - but supporters who gathered to welcome him were immediately arrested for holding an illegal gathering.
Milinkevich, the main opposition candidate in Belarus' presidential elections held in March, and other opposition leaders Sergei Kalyakin, Vintsuk Vyachorka and Alexander Bukhvostov were given a 15-day "administrative arrest" sentences after they organized an unsanctioned rally in the Belarusian capital April 26 dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy.
Milinkevich's headquarters said about ten of his supporters who gathered near the prison to welcome him had been detained by police, who deemed their gathering unsanctioned.
Belarus' opposition holds rallies each year dedicating them to anniversaries of the Chernobyl tragedy, the world's worst nuclear accident, which affected much of the country.
Communist party leader Kalyakin, Labor Party leader Bukhvostov and Vyachorka, the leader of Belarus People's Front, were released Thursday.
