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Belarusian opposition activist demonstrates in front of Russian embassy in support of Navalny

 

Belarusian opposition activist Andrey Kim staged a demonstration in front of the Russian embassy in Minsk on Thursday evening in support of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who was sentenced to five years in prison earlier in the day.

For about 10 minutes, Mr. Kim stood near the building in a yellow T-shirt featuring the words “Freedom to Navalny.”

Mr. Kim described Mr. Navalny as a fighter against lawlessness and corruption. “I remember very well how people in Russia took to the streets to give us at least some support when I, my friends and presidential candidates in Belarus were behind bars,” he said. “Naturally, we cannot do many things in Minsk.”

Mr. Kim said that residents of Belarus were afraid of expressing their views about even the political situation in Russia. The young man noted that he had had to put the slogan “Freedom to Navalny” on his T-shirt himself after a large printing company in Minsk had refused to do that.

After having his photographs taken and posting them on social networking sites, Mr. Kim left the scene. He was not immediately arrested by police. // BelaPAN