Minsk Authorities Allow Opposition To Hold "Chornobyl Path" March
MINSK -- Minsk city authorities have
officially allowed Belarusian opposition groups to hold a "Chornobyl
Path" march on April 26.
The annual march has been held in the Belarusian capital since 1988 to
commemorate the victims of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster on April 26,
1986 in neighboring Ukraine, which contaminated large parts of
Belarusian territory.
The march's organizers say that this year they intend to protest the
Belarusian government’s plan to build the country’s first nuclear power
plant in the western town of Astravets near the Lithuanian border.
Russia has allocated 10 billion rubles (nearly $340,000,000) for the
project which is to be built by the Russian Atomstroiexport company.
The "Chornobyl Path" march has been marred by clashes between activists and police in previous years.
