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Police arrest nine people outside jail in Minsk

 

Police on November 6 arrested opposition activist Yury Rubtsow, who was just released after serving a three-day jail sentence, and eight other people who were meeting him outside the detention center on Akrestsina Street in Minsk.

As human rights defender Anastasiya Loyka told BelaPAN, those arrested included Pavel Vinahradaw, leader of Zmena (Change), the youth wing of the "Tell the Truth!" movement, and Vyachaslaw Pyashko, a reporter for the private newspaper Novy Chas.

All the nine people were taken to the Maskowski district police station.

The 52-year-old Rubtsow, a resident of Homyel and a member of the Independent Union of Electronic Industry Workers (REP), was arrested by police on November 3 following a commemorative a rally at Kurapaty, a Stalin-era massacre site just outside Minsk.

He was wearing a T-shirt over his coat with a "Lukashenka Go!" message on its front side. A text written on the back of the white T-shirt said, "A four-time president? No. This is not a president but an impostor tsar."

On Monday, Judge Dzmitry Pawlyuchenka of the Savetski District Court in Minsk found Mr. Rubtsow guilty of disobeying lawful police orders under Article 23.4 of the Civil Offenses Code and sentenced him to three days in jail.

While pronouncing his sentence, the judge said that Mr. Rubtsow had been repeatedly told to take off the T-shirt before the arrest.

Mr. Rubtsow, who appeared in the courtroom wearing the same T-shirt, told reporters that he had expected to be arrested.