More detentions ahead of world ice hockey championship in Minsk
The police in Minsk on May 5 detained Mikola Dzemidzenka from the Czech Republic-based youth pressure group Young Front.
The youngster only managed to inform his friend about his detention on the phone. His whereabouts are currently unknown, reports Belapan. As of today, about a dozen civic activists are currently being held in detention centers. They were detained ahead of and during the Cherbonyl Way rally on April 26. Human rights defenders describe the arrests as preventive detentions ahead of the world ice hockey championship to take place on May 9-26 in Minsk.
On May 4, local National Bolsheviks staged an action timed to the upcoming championship. Next to the main entrance to Caliuskincau Park, they hoitsed a poster reading "You can't jail everyone" and a symbolic photograph of the head of state. The activists also were seen handing out leavlets that explained the idea of the action. No detentions were reported.
