Vitsebsk: new arrests for white-red-white flags
On 2 November in Vitsebsk activists of democratic forces walked through the town with Belarusian national flags.
Siarhei Kavalenka, activist of the Conservative Christian Party BPF, carried the largest one, 2 by 8 meters. According to RFE/RL, passers-by took pictures of the event.
The activists walked from Summer Amphitheatre to the City Hall on the right side of the street, then crossed the street and returned to Svabody square. A military car stopped them near the city executive committee. Siarhei Kavalenka and Taras Surhan, who also carried a white-red-white flag, were detained by policemen and guarded to the Kastrychnitski district police department.
A report on organizing and holding an unauthorized action was drawn up against Kavalenka and Surhan. Both activists already have numerous convictions for raising white-red-white flags during pickets in Vitsebsk and Haradok. The oppositionists spent the night in a temporary detention facility.
Independent journalist Alena Stsiapanava also attracted attention of police. Policemen detained her at a bus stop, examined her bag, put down her passport data and then released her.
