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Eleven people briefly detained in Minsk after they pay tribute to Belarusian protester killed in Kyiv

Eleven people were briefly detained by police in Minsk after they paid tribute to a Belarusian man killed during clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Kyiv earlier this week.

The activists displayed an image of Mikhail Zhyznewski at the monument to great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko near the Ukrainian embassy, opposition politician Aleh Korban told BelaPAN.

After laying flowers and lit candles at the monument and singing "Mahutny Bozha" (Oh, Lord Almighty), a Belarusian-language religious anthem, the people started walking toward a subway station, but were soon ordered by arriving police to stop and board a minibus.
They were brought to the Tsentralny district police station where they were held for three hours before being released without charges.

Reports have it that up to seven people have been killed since police wearing riot gear and helmets began tearing down a barricaded protest camp on Hrushevskyy Street in Kyiv early on Wednesday. Mr. Zhyznewski, 25, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his heart on Wednesday morning.

Ukraine’s anti-government movement began in protest again President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision in late November 2013 to pull out of a landmark treaty with the EU and seek closer ties with Russia instead.

The latest wave of violence broke out as thousands of protesters gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square to express anger at controversial new laws, which they said are meant at restricting basic human rights and freedoms.