Police arrest opposition activist Ivan Amelchanka
Young opposition activist Ivan Amelchanka, whose stunt during an
opposition march earlier this year was watched by hundreds of thousands
on the Internet, was arrested again in Minsk on July 17.
He
was apprehended near his home at 11 a.m. and brought to the Leninski
District Court, where he was to stand trial on a charge of disobedience
to police orders, human rights defender Anastasiya Loyka told BelaPAN.
The arrest came one day after Mr. Amelchanka launched a mock bid to win a parliamentary seat.
During
a Chernobyl anniversary march in Minsk on April 26, Ivan Amelchanka
sneaked up to a plainclothes policeman busy filming the crowd, got to
the left of him and unfurled a sign that featured an offensive slang
term for a policeman with an arrow beneath pointing right at the
officer. The crowd responded with roars of laughter and applause. The
young man was later sentenced to 15 days in jail over the incident.
He has served two more jail sentences on charges of disorderly conduct since.
