Mass arrests in Minsk

Monday night and Tuesday morning at least 108 persons were arrested in Minsk. Andrei Dynko, right, the Editor-in-chief of ´Nasha Niva´, was detained at 10 am. He was arrested while getting off a bus at the Kastrychnitskaya Square, where several hundred people had set up tents and protested against the unfair presidential elections. (21-MARCH-06)

Based on the joint press statement of the Norwegian and Swedish Helsinki Committees and the International Helsinki Federation for human rights, this article is written by HRH / Ane Tusvik Bonde and Niels Jacob Harbitz. Photo of Andrei Dynko: Bård Brinchmann Løvvig. Photo of Bjørn Engesland: Niels Jacob Harbitz.

According to the independent Belarus Media News Center, Dynko was carrying a bag with products for the protesters in his hand. No-one knows where Dynko was taken or is being held at the moment. All attempts to get information about the journalist have been in vain.

Statement from the Norwegian and Swedish Helsinki Committees
-We condemn the authorities´ behaviour and underline that the mass arrests that are now taking place are unacceptable, reads the joint  statement of theThe Norwegian Helsinki Committee, The Swedish Helsinki Committee and International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF). Around 200 persons are still demonstrating in the centre of Minsk. Milinkevich was with them all night and he is ready to be with them for as long as they will be there. But there are very cold and the group of people is not growing, says an independent Belarusian journalist to HRH.

-Norway must support those struggling for democracy in Belarus
– Belarus is violating basic human rights and shows contempt for its own people when the police yesterday began arresting peaceful supporters of democracy in the capital Minsk. This is the message from Bjørn Engesland and Berit Lindeman of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, both present in Minsk to follow the 19 March elections and the ugly aftermath now unfolding. After the authorities excluded the opposition from the media in the election campaign and after Sunday´s blatant rigging of the elections themselves, the opposition candidates and their supporters now protest through peaceful demonstrations.

-EU and OSCE must condemn the violations of human rights
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), the Swedish Helsinki Committee (SHC) and the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) strongly condemn Belarusian authorities´ conduct through the presidential elections. The mass arrests now taking place are completely unacceptable and amount to a severe attack on civil society. NHC, SHC and IHF demand that the EU and the OSCE condemn the violations of human rights now taking place in Belarus and that they monitor the very severe development in the country. International observers must be present during the court cases against the oppositional demonstrators.

-Norwegian authorities must raise their concern with the Russian PM
According to the latest information available, 108 people have been arrested on their way to or from the October Square, among them co-operation partners of NHC. People wearing the prohibited white Belarusian flag on their clothes are drawn into cars and driven away. -Norwegian authorities must now follow closely what is happening and express their support to the democratic forces in Belarus, says NHC´s Secretary General Bjørn Engesland, left, from Minsk, where, together with adviser Berit Lindeman, also of NHC, he is still following the events as they unfold. They must also ask Russian authorities to take this crisis seriously, and discuss this with Russia´s Prime Minister Fradkov, when he comes to Norway next week, Engesland adds. On the October Square, right now, both uniformed and plain clothed police are present. Riot police are not visibly present, but can be found in buses nearby. Court cases will begin some time in the afternoon, but it is not yet known where.

For updates and further information, please call Bjørn Engesland at +47 957 53 350 or adviser Berit Lindeman at +47 909 33 379.