23 participants of mourning marathon detained near Kalvaryja
The people who wanted to commemorate Stalin’s repression victims have been taken to Frunze District Department of the Interior.
A woman is asking them to say their names in the police office now. However, she is refusing to introduce herself.
Repression victims are commemorated every year on October 29 – the day when most innocent intellectuals were killed in Minsk. Civil activists started the event by commemorating innocent victims at Kalvaryja Cemetery. They laid flowers on graves, lit candles and hoisted a white-red-white flag. The action did not last long – policemen arrived and asked everyone including journalists to follow them to the police office for questioning.
About 20 people were detained – Illya Dabratvorau and his 8-year-old son Yausei, Uladzimir Ramanouski, Maksim Syamyonau, Ales Makayeu, Mikalai Bambiza, Ales Prysmakou, Tatstsyana Frantskevich (a political prisoner’s mother), Yauhen Batura, Mr. Makau, Nina Bahinskaya, Alyaksei Shein, Katsyaryna Sadouskaya, Halina Siuchyk, Syarhei Hanzhankou and Tatstsyana Ulasenka are among them. Radio Liberty and Belsat journalists were also detained.
The marathon was supposed to continue in Drazdy, Trastsyanets, Loshytsa and Kurapaty.
A few minutes before the detention.
Photo: Alyaksei Shein’s Facebook, svaboda.org
