Opposition candidates conduct action in October Square

19.45. Five police buses leave Bersan Lane near the House of the Government.

19:16 The meeting on the threshold of the House of the Government is coming to an end. Mikola Statkevich and Vital Rymasheuski have made their speeches. Statkevich  has attached the appeal to the CEC to the doorplate of the House of Representatives.

Rymasheuski has invited everyone to attend his picket near the Railway Terminal tomorrow. The last speeches are being made, the meeting is coming to an end. About 1500 participants stayed there until the end of the action.

The ERB reporter talked to the head of the “Fair World” party Syarhei Kalyakin at the end of the meeting. The action produced an ambivalent impression on the politician. Kalyakin noted that he did not understand how all that was connected with the CEC building. He stressed that the authorities cold use the action and an example of democracy and demonstrate it to foreign observers. Let us remind you that nobody was detained during the meeting. The police were quiet.

19.07 The participants of the action have reached the House of the Government where the Central Election Commission is situated. They went towards the monument to Lenin instead of the CEC. Statkevich claimed he would not go to the CEC and would attach the demands to the doorplate near the entrance instead. Policemen met the column near the CEC. They said they could not let people in because the workday was over.

18:55 Participants of the action are approaching the CEC. Vital Rymasheuski and Mikola Statkevich are leading the column. Candidate Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu has left the action. The participants can walk along Independence Square without any problem.

The police do not interfere and behave in a correct way. The police say that about 250 people set off from October Square.

18.45 Driving inspectorate cars are following the column of demonstrators. About a dozen driving inspectors are watching them to prevent people from entering the trafficway. Minskers driving past the participants of the action in Independence Square are signaling to welcome them.

18.35 The column of demonstrators and candidates unexpectedly met a presidential candidate Ales Mihalevich in the pedestrian subway near the GUM store. They asked him whether he would like to join the action. However, the politician said he was just standing near his picket.

18.25 Statkevich has set off to Yarmoshyna to deliver an appeal. According to it, they demand to include a representative of every presidential contender in every election commission. All the participants are walking towards the Central Election Commission in Independence Square.

18.15 Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu has arrived at the square. The leader of “Young Front” Zmitser Dashkevich has already made a speech. The politician has pronounced “the last warning” to Lukashenka. Policemen in plain clothes are not interfering in the action and are communicating with the help of portable radio transmitters.

18.09 Sources in the security agencies report that no detentions are planned for today. A BT rpogramme is being broadcast at full volume on a wide screen in the square.

18.07 There are about 1500 people in the square. They are standing on the threshold of the Palace of Trade Unions. A presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich has also joined the action.

The candidates have told ERB that they are not afraid of being expelled from the presidential race. According to them, they have a right to meet their electors.

18.00 there are about 50 people in plain clothes in the square now. They are doing nothing. It is almost impossible to hear the politicians as they do not have a loud-speaker. On the contrary, security agencies have loud-speakers but they are not making any announcements.

17.57 The head of the city election committee Ihar Karpenka is speaking to the present. There are about 200 or 250 people in the square.

17.55 Vital Rymasheuski, Pavel Sevyarynets and about 40 people have walked past the GUM store in a column and entered the square. People are holding red-white-red flags and symbols of the BCD. There are about 200 or 250 people in the square.

17.40 The yards nearby are full of police cars and cars for transporting prisoners. People in plain clothes having pocket cameras have been noticed there. A picket in support of Vital Rymasheuski has appeared not far from the square.

The leader of Christian democrats has told ERB that he is not afraid of being expelled from the presidential campaign for his participation in the today’s action. According to Rymasheuski, people have a constitutional right to gather where they like.

A meeting of opposition candidates with electors will begin in the centre of Minsk at 6 p.m. today. The action’s motto will be “Leave!” People will demand that Alyaksandr Lukashenka should resign.

Photo by: Radio “Liberty”