All journalists detained on Wednesday in Minsk during an unauthorized street protest against the Belarusian government’s economic policies have been released.
All journalists detained on Wednesday in Minsk during an unauthorized street protest against the Belarusian government’s economic policies have been released. The protest ended after the police arrested several dozen people.
The protest was organized via social networks. A similar protest took place in the Belarusian capital a week ago involving up to several thousand people.
The Minsk Police Department warned people against taking part in illegal protests, saying the discussion of so-called “social network revolutions has started to grow out of innocent children's pranks into violation of Belarusian law” from the moment it went offline.
Several hundred people gathered at Oktyabrskaya Square in the center of the Belarusian capital, applauding to protest the government’s economic policy.
Police arrested about 20 people during the first few minutes of the protest, but then began to arrest people indiscriminately - protesters as well as onlookers.
Several dozen people were driven away in police cars.
Five or six journalists, mostly from opposition publications, were arrested during the illegal protest, a source told RIA Novosti. He said the journalists were likely to be released without any administrative action.
The Vesna human rights center said similar protests, which also led to arrests, were held in at least 10 Belarusian cities.
