YOUNG FRONT ORGANIZES STREET ACTION “I LOVE BELARUS!” POLICE DETAINS 7 PEOPLE: PAVAL SEVIARYNETS, ZMITSER FILIPOVICH, ALEH FINKEVICH, ALEH MIADZVEDZEW, PIATRUS KEWLAW, A. HNEDCHYK, AND THE BELARUSKAYA GAZETA JOURNALIST VADZIM DOWNAR

In the morning of 14 February several groups of Young Front members visited the diplomatic missions of the Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Poland, the United States and other countries, as well as the UN and OSCE missions. They brought their greetings with St. Valentine’s Day and 2 petitions. BelaPAN reports, the first petition called not to create an iron curtain on the border of Belarus; another one proposed to nominate one of the leaders of Cuban opposition to Nobel peace prize. In OSCE office the youth delegation was met by E. Heiken, the new head of the OSCE mission to Belarus.
At 5 p.m. several dozen Young Front members gathered on Yakub Kolas Square. “We want to declare, we will give Belarus neither to Russia, nor to the Lukashenka’s regime”, -- claimed Young Front Leader Seviarynets, addressing the crowd. Then the group walked along Frantsysk Skaryna avenue in the direction of the Academy of Sciences. There Seviarynets announced the action was over and called on the crowd to disperse. One of the groups, headed by Seviarynets, walked back to the office. On the crossroads with Kazlova street 6 people were detained by police, which followed the demonstrators along their route, reports BelaPAN. Paval Seviarynets, Zmitser Filipovich, Aleh Finkevich, Aleh Miadzvedzew, Piatrus Kewlaw, and A. Hnedchyk were taken to Savetski borough police office. The police also detained The Belaruskaya Gazeta reporter Vadzim Downar.
Young Front organized St. Valentine’s Day event in over 20 cities of the country. In Mahilow Young Front members organized a fancy-dress procession under the white-red-white flag in the city center. In Brest young people presented several thousand white-red-white valentines to passers-by and visited the Ukrainian an Polish consulates, located in their city. Vorsha regional branches of Young Front, Belarusian Students’ Association, Young Social Democrats, and local organization “Zviaz” gathered for a meeting. In Berazino YF members organized a St. Valentine’s party, in Asipovichy – a concert, dedicated to the St. Valentine’s Day.

Information Department of the Human Rights Center "Viasna"