BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/03/2008

Belarusian Opposition Leader Holds Meetings, Despite Police Interference

Movement For Freedom leader Alyaksandr Milinkevich on February 29 and March 1 traveled around Brest Oblast, where he held meetings with local residents, Belapan reported. During the trip, the police detained Milinkevich seven times. He was stopped four times by traffic police on his way to Brest, and then taken to a police station after an open-air meeting with nearly 200 city residents. Police then detained Milinkevich while he was traveling from Brest to Kobryn, as well as after a meeting with Kobryn residents, forcing him to explain the meeting. "The authorities are afraid of such meetings," Milinkevich said. "They are afraid that people would openly speak about their problems and discuss ways of solving them. They are afraid of alternative views," he added. AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-030308.asp

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