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Police arrest opposition activist Ivan Amelchanka

2012 2012-07-17T17:48:34+0300 1970-01-01T03:00:00+0300 en

Young opposition activist Ivan Amelchanka, whose stunt during an opposition march earlier this year was watched by hundreds of thousands on the Internet, was arrested again in Minsk on July 17.

He was apprehended near his home at 11 a.m. and brought to the Leninski District Court, where he was to stand trial on a charge of disobedience to police orders, human rights defender Anastasiya Loyka told BelaPAN.

The arrest came one day after Mr. Amelchanka launched a mock bid to win a parliamentary seat.

During a Chernobyl anniversary march in Minsk on April 26, Ivan Amelchanka sneaked up to a plainclothes policeman busy filming the crowd, got to the left of him and unfurled a sign that featured an offensive slang term for a policeman with an arrow beneath pointing right at the officer. The crowd responded with roars of laughter and applause. The young man was later sentenced to 15 days in jail over the incident.

He has served two more jail sentences on charges of disorderly conduct since.

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