Minsk: Riot Police Rudely Detain Ukrainian Journalist at Electoral Meeting of Aliaksandr Milinkevich

In her interview to RFE/RL the journalist of the Ukrainian 5th Channel Hanna Horozhenko told the details of the incident.

On 12 March the riot police forcedly detained the journalist after the end of the meeting with Aliaksandr Milinkevich that took place near the Ice Palace in Prytytski St. in Minsk. Despite the fact that the journalist has official accreditation in Belarus, she was detained only on the request of the Ukrainian Consul. All participants of the meeting noticed large Ukrainian flags that were raised by a group of youth from the Ukrainian organization Studentske bratstvo (Student Fraternity). According to Ms Harazhenka, after the end of the meeting the riot police purposefully detained the Ukrainians. They seized her during a live broadcast and damaged the camera and the microphone. ‘I have never faced such words and faced such loutishness before’, -- commented the journalist on the behavior of the policemen.

Hanna Horozhenko also expressed her wish to remain in Belarus till the end of the election, but the decision depends on the channel’s administration. The Ukrainian diplomats also continued working with aim to find about the fate of other Ukrainian citizens who were detained after the end of the meeting.