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Deportation case against three Ukrainians arrested in Minsk following opposition demonstration yet to be considered

The deportation case against three activists of a Ukrainian youth organization called National Alliance who were arrested in Minsk on March 24 still remains unconsidered.

As Maya Moskvich, spokesperson for Lutsk-based National Alliance, told BelaPAN, Yuliya Hryshchuk, Yuliya Slivinskaya and Zakhar Zelinovskiy still do not know when Belarusian authorities will consider their case. "They were told that it would be considered after 10 days, and that they would be notified in writing," she said.

“The guys just wanted to get home as soon as possible,” Ms. Moskvich said when asked why they left Belarus without being deported.

The three young Ukrainians were apprehended by plainclothesmen in Minsk following an opposition demonstration marking 95 years since the proclamation of the independence of the Belarusian National Republic. The young people had arrived in Minsk to display Ukrainian flags during the demonstration as part of a campaign titled “Ukrainian Presence,” which was conducted by National Alliance and the Ukrainian-based “Cooperation Without Borders” international center.

As Ms. Hryshchuk told reporters, they were arrested when they were standing at a bus stop. “Police officers in plain clothes came up and told us to go with them,” she said. “They ordered: ‘Do what we say or else,’ and we obeyed.”

On March 25, after spending a night in police custody, Mses. Hryshchuk and Slivinskaya were sentenced to one-day jail terms on charges of disobeying police officers’ lawful orders and the under 18-year-old Zelinovskiy was issued a warning.