Riot police disperse punk-rock gig near Minsk

The police detained several dozens people who gathered in the evening of August 1 to attend a concert in a forest near Minsk. Belapan quotes a participant as saying that the concert of punk-rock bands was taking place in the woods near Zialionaje railway station. Some eighty young people gathered.

The concert started at 2000. Two hours later, riot police officers and plainclothes agents attacked and disrupted the gig. The witness told Belapan the policemen had ordered the males on the ground but did not harrass women. The detainees spent around one and a half hours in the forest and were later escorted to a police van. Some were reportedly beaten.

The police let go those who had arrived in their own vehicles. However, people were fined for parking in an unauthorized area. Around 40-50 people were taken to the Zdanovicy district police station. Some of them were let go but some were charged with petty hooliganism.

According to the woman interviewed by Belapan, on August 2 five people remained in the police custody. They face charges of organizing an unauthorized event, being drunk in a public place and disobeying the police. They will stand trial on August 3.

Riot police ban girls to hand out flowers in Minsk streets (photo)