Riot police dispersed the meeting in commemoration of Zavadzki

On Thursday the Minsk police dispersed an unauthorized meeting of people who gathered in the central square of the city to commemorate Dzmitry Zavadzki, the disappeared journalist, reports Reuters.

Three dozens of activists of the human rights movements and opposition parties with portraits of the disappeared ORT cameraman attempted to gather in the center of the Belarusian capital, but were moved out of the location by the riot police.

On the same day several hours before the event the Belarusian Association of Journalists held a meeting in commemoration of the disappeared Belarusian journalist Veranika Charkasava and Zavadzki on the Minsk outskirts.

The head of the association Zhanna Litvina said: "Our pain is what happened to Dzmitry and Veranika… We demand that the authorities tell us who is guilty why Dzmitry and Veranika are not with us".

Veranika Charkasava was found dead in October last year. Dzmitry Zavadzki disappeared on 7 July 2000 on the way from Minsk to the local airport. Several Belarusian riot police officers were convicted for his murder, but those who ordered the crime or the journalist's body have not been found.