On the stage: rally tolerated
The authorities in Minsk had not sanctioned the Freedom Rally towards the centre of the city but traditionally recommended an alternative route. To prevent the unsanctioned actions, hundreds of riot militia officers shut the passages to the central part of the city. Snipers and razor wires were used “for the force demonstration”, the organisers commented. 
A peaceful meeting started at 6.00 p.m. near the Academy of Science. The participants were holding slogans, Belarusian and EU flags, singing songs and burning the portraits of the Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
A few hundreds of young activists initially intended to smash against the militia and get to the centre of Minsk. However, the leaders of Young Front and Young Belarus organisations decided to refuse these plans. They remained with other demonstrators who formed a live chain alongside the Independence Avenue.
Find the chronicles of the event, photos and videos here.
The rally on 25 March is a traditional way for the democratic forces of the country to commemorate the proclamation of the Belarusian People’s 
Republic in 1918, as well as to protest against the authorities’ policies which they regard authoritarian and pro-Russian. This year’s celebration is one of the most peaceful examples of the authorities and the protesters’ coexistence. By contrast, in 2008 some participants were severely beaten up, the rally dispersed.
The observers think the success of the celebration was not the merit of the militia, but the one of the demonstrators. The opposition activists did not accept the “humiliating” recommendation of the city authorities to hold the rally at the “sleeping districts” of Minsk, but neither did they confront the security forces to organise an unsanctioned march. “The organisers outmanoeuvred the authorities elegantly”, – Andrei Dynko, editor-in-chief of Nasha Niva told in an interview for the Radio Liberty.
Behind the curtain: Freedom Day in captivity
The authorities did everything to prevent the event in Minsk. Flats of some youth activists: Dzianis Karnou, Valer Matskevich, and Aleh Ladutska – were searched hours before the meeting. Three Young Front activists from Baranavičy (Brest region) were detained in Minsk. In all cases the security forces aimed at expropriating the materials prepared for the rally: flags, slogans etc.
In the province the authorities proved even more intolerant. A whole range of youth activists and their parents from many Belarusian cities received calls from security officers on the eve of the Freedom Day. They were warned to ignore the celebration in Minsk. The parents were encouraged to “care about the behaviour” of their children.
The demonstrators in Viciebsk (north-east Belarus) were not allowed to hold the unofficial national white-red-white flags and balloons. The leader of the oppositional Belarusian Popular Front from Haradok (Viciebsk region) Leanid Autukhou, who was holding a flag, was detained and brought to the militia office. The same happened to three activists of the Conservative-Christian Party BNF Siarhei Kavalenka, Ihar Bazarau, and Valery Aliaksandrau who had attempted to organise the celebration on the Freedom Square of the city.
In Hrodna (west) the Freedom Day festivities on the central Soviet Square were banned by the local authorities.
In Homiel (south-east) Kastus Zhukouski and Siarhei Tryfanau, the activists of the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democracy, were detained in the morning and convicted a few hours later. They were found guilty “for hooliganism”, Mr Tryfanau fined, and Mr Zhukouski imprisoned for 3 days.
