100 detained in benefit concert over drug suspicion

Around a hundred people have been reportedly detained during a concert in support of the “Food Not Bombs” international campaign held in Minsk MTZ Palace of Culture this evening.

The detainees were taken to various police departments. As of 10 p.m., all the women except one (Alena Dubovik is said to be facing administrative charges, and was therefore taken to a detention center) were released without charges.

The incident reportedly dealt with drug suspicion. The detentions were accompanied with police-related violence, reports say. One of the detainees Ihar Trukhanovich was beaten by the police and was later taken to hospital in an ambulance.

The names of those taken to Minsk detention center in Akrestsin Street: Mikita Ulasenka, Yauhen Ulasenka, Yauhen Rubashka, Uladzimir Dzmitrakou, Pavel Dziarkach, Pavel Hrynevich, Dzmitry Kharlanchuk, Pavel Belanau, as well as journalist of Radio Racyja Aliaksandr Yarashevich.      

“Food, Not Bombs” is an all-volunteer global movement that shares free vegan meals as a protest to war and poverty.

The campaign’s activists have encountered constant pressure from the authorities of Belarus. The country’s Interior Ministry and the KGB have repeatedly stopped the serving of free food to the homeless of Minsk and Brest.