English

At least three arrested during motorists` protest

At least three people were arrested during Tuesday`s protest staged by motorists in central Minsk against a fresh increase in motor fuel prices, human rights defenders said.

Hundreds of motorists blocked traffic on Minsk’s major thoroughfare, Independence Avenue, for two hours on Tuesday evening.

One of the arrested people was Pavel Hruzdzilovich, whose father Aleh is a reporter with the Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Riot police also grabbed Dzmitry Kavalhin, a member of the United Civic Party, after he attempted to prevent them from arresting a young woman during the protest, human rights defender Anastasiya Loyka told BelaPAN. The man was taken to the Tsentralny district police department and charged with participation in an unauthorized mass event under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Offenses Code.

The unidentified woman was said to have been arrested as well.

When reached by BelaPAN, the Minsk city police department denied knowledge of the number of people arrested during the protest.

Human rights defenders said that all of the protesters were expected to stand trial in the Tsentralny District Court on June 8.

The leaders of Za Awto, the association of motorists behind the protest, could not be contacted by reporters since Tuesday evening.

The protesters honked the horns and turned hazard flashers on. Some waved T-shorts featuring “Stop Gasoline,” the motto of the Za Awto association’s nationwide campaign against increases in motor fuel prices, while others pulled up with the hoods wide open, pretending that they needed to carry out some repairs.

There was a heavy presence of traffic police, but they could do little to remove the parked cars with the help of tow cars from the jammed section.

The protest attracted the attention of passers-by who lined up along Independence Avenue to applaud the motorists and shout words of support. Some places on the motorway were covered with small denomination notes tossed by sympathizers.