New wave of arrests came down on Belarusian opposition in the past few days. And by saying a “wave” I really mean it because literally all opposition leaders found themselves behind the bars under similar circumstances. It seems that Lukashenka’s regime decided not to waste any time and get down to their dirty business of imprisoning or intimidating people who do not show any warm feelings toward the regime.

The press service of the leader of the democratic forces Alyaksandr Milinkevich informed that during the rally “Charnobylski Shlyakh” the leader of the Belarusian Popular Front Vintsuk Vyachorka, three citizens of Ukraine and 8 other participants of the rally have been arrested. The same day, KGB officers seized and beat up the leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Lyabedzka. The former candidate for presidency Alyaksandr Kazulin has spent a month in the remand prison already.

The next day, on April 27, at 11:33 in Minsk, the chairman of the Communist Party Syarhei Kalyakin and the leader of the Party of Labour Alyaksandr Bukhvostau were arrested by riot policemen. The leaders of the parties were summoned to the city division of Interior Affairs of Minsk city executive committee for discussing the format of the opposition action which has been planned for May 1 in Minsk. However when politicians left the building of the Interior Affairs department, they were seized by riot policemen and taken to the police department of Pershamajski district of Minsk, according to preliminary information.

At 12:25, the leader of the Belarusian opposition Alyaksandr Milinkevich was detained today by riot policemen right in the editorial office of the independent newspaper “Belarusy i rynok”, where the politician was interviewed. As the Charter’97 press center was informed by Milinkevich’s press secretary Pavel Mazhejka, riot policemen have not presented any writs. They put Milinkevich into the car and took him to the police department of Pershamajski district of Minsk. The opposition leaders are charged with organizing an “unsanctioned rally”. The matter concerns “The Path of Chernobyl”, held yesterday in the center of Minsk. The politicians face arrest up to 15 days.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 27th, 2006 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Free Belarus, The Pressroom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.