Human rights activists urge to support Paval Vinagradau
Rights defenders in Belarus say that arbitrary preventive detention of activists has become a means of political persecution.
Human rights activists spoke about this at a press conference in Minsk that marked the beginning of the campaign in support of activist Paval Vinagradau. During 10 months of this year, he has been imprisoned for a total of 50 days and is now serving another administrative detention.
"Arbitrary detention is used by the authorities to prosecute political activists because of their affiliation to different political groups and carrying out of peaceful political activities," said the deputy chairman of the human rights organization Viasna Valyantsin Stefanovich.
According to him, the history of arbitrary preventive arrests started in Belarus before the presidential election in 2006, BelaPAN reports. According to human rights activists, a few days before the main voting, 236 people were subjected to arbitrary preventive detention. All of them were accused of disorderly conduct and obscene language in public places.
