Two young opposition activists arrested ahead of Independence Day celebrations get two-day jail terms

Two young opposition activists who were preventively arrested by police in Minsk on July 2 ahead of Independence Day celebrations were sentenced to two days in jail on Thursday.

A judge of the Kastrychnitski District Court found Dzmitry Paliyenka and Dzyanis Hawrykaw guilty of using obscene language in a public place.

The two activists of the Russian-based outlawed National Bolshevik Party (Nazbol) were to be released at 6 p.m. upon completion of their jail terms.

Messrs. Paliyenka and Hawrykaw and one more Nazbol activist, Alyaksandr Palyakow, were arrested by plainclothesmen on Tuesday evening and initially told that they were suspected of robbery.

Alyaksandr was allowed to go home because he is a legal minor.

Nazbol activists in Belarus have repeatedly been arrested ahead of public celebrations and visits by the presidents of other countries.