BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/11/2006

Belarus opposition leader detained in fatal car accident

MINSK, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Belarusian opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich has been detained over his alleged involvement in a fatal car accident, his press secretary said Friday.

The accident, in which one person reportedly died, occurred in the country's Vitebsk Region, about 130 miles northeast of the capital, Minsk.

Pavel Mozheiko said: "Milinkevich's car was stopped near the city of Vitebsk by traffic police, who conveyed Milinkevich to a police station where he was told that a car resembling his had left the scene of an accident."

He said the car was stopped several times while Milinkevich was on a tour of the region as part of an election campaign for seats in local legislatures, with police officers establishing and noting the identity of all passengers.

Milinkevich contested Belarus' presidential elections in March as the main opposition candidate, but finished a distant second, with 6% of the vote, behind incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, who officially won 83% of the vote.

The opposition said the poll was rigged.

Milinkevich has since been arrested several times over his role in mass demonstrations that followed the elections. In April, a court sentenced him to 15 days of detention for his part in an unauthorized 3,000-strong rally, organized by opposition groups.

The rally was called by the opposition to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident, which affected much of the country.

But protesters held Ukrainian and European Union flags and chanted "Long Live Belarus!" and "Freedom!" and expressed support for Milinkevich.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20061124/55941852.html

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