Activist of the Russian movement Oborona Nikolay Zboroshenko declares hunger-strike in Minsk jail

Source: www.charter97.org

The activist of the Russian youth movement Oborona Nikolay Zboroshenko, who is serving an administrative arrest in the special detention prison in Minsk, has gone on a hunger strike of protest, the Charter’97 press center was informed by Oborona representatives. As we have informed, on July 26 two activists of the Russian youth movement Oborona Nikolay Zboroshenko and Ekaterina Vinokurova were sentenced to 15 and 10 days of arrest by the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk. On July 23 young people took part in a protest in front of the Russian Embassy with a demand to stop Russia’s support of Lukashenka’s regime.

Participants of the protest wanted to unfurl a slogan “Russia without Putin, Belarus without Lukashenka”. They were scanning: “We need a different Russia, we need a different Belarus”, “No to support of Belarusian dictator”.

On 16 July, the Day of Belarusian Solidarity, 47 citizens of Belarus were arrested near the Russian Embassy. The Belarusians planned to demand bringing up the Belarusian issue at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg and urge Russia to stop supporting the Belarusian dictatorship. Participants of the rally gathered by the embassy with portraits of abducted Belarusian politicians and a journalist. They held candles of solidarity with political prisoners and repressed Belarusians. Riot policemen were brutally beating demonstrators during arrest.