The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

Yesterday riot policemen did not allow Minsk residents to gather in October Square of Minsk with portraits of Belarusian political prisoners. The square was cordoned off by riot policemen and people in plain clothes. When activists tried to gather near McDonalds restaurant nearby, they were brutally pushed away from that place.

The participants of the protest wanted to draw attention of the CIS state leaders, participants of the summit in Minsk, to violations of human rights in Belarus, to abductions of opposition leaders and existence of political prisoners in Belarus, reports Charter’97.