Police Disperses Opposition Rally in Minsk

On July 27, police dispersed an opposition rally in Minsk, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Belarus. Leader of a movement Razam (Together) Vyacheslav Sivchik and young opposition activists Nikolay Demidenko, Andrei Kim and Katerina Davydik were detained and spent the night in the detention center on Okrestina Street. They are accused under article 17.1 of the Administrative Code - disorderly conduct. The trials will be held today.

About 30 people gathered yesterday on Yakub Kolas Square with a view to laying flowers at the monument to Belarusian literary great Yakub Kolas (1882-1956). When they were about to leave the square and went to the monuments in honor of Yanka Kupala and Maxim Bogdanovich, they were approached by five police officers who said that they might be charged with staging an unsanctioned demonstration, BelaPAN reported.

Then the police officers used force to detain the participants of the action.