Three more solidarity action participants sentenced to administrative arrest

Sergey Luchkov, Nikita Kovalenko and Aleksandr Velitchenko were detained in the evening of 26 October on Kastrychnitskaya Square in Minsk during a rally of solidarity with political prisoners. They were found guilty of violating the order of organizing and holding mass events.

Velitchenko is sentenced to 15 days of arrest, Luchkov and Kovalenko - to 10, as human rights activist Anastasia Loyko informed BelaPAN. The sentences were awarded by Leninsky District Court of Minsk.

Thus, from the beginning of the actions of solidarity with political prisoners (October 21) in Minsk 11 people have been sentenced in total. All of them were found guilty of violating the order of holding mass events.

Holding solidarity actions is initiated by the civil campaign "European Belarus",whose leader Andrei Sannikov and coordinator Dmitry Bondarenko are still in custody, convicted of the criminal case on the riots in Minsk on December 19.

Policemen have never allowed participants of solidarity action to gather at Kastrychnitskaya Square: as soon as people appeared on the declared place, they begun to disperse and arrest them. Times from time policemen behave more harshly during detentions, say witnesses and human rights activists.

We remind, on October 24 the head of public security police of Minsk City Executive Committee Igor Evseev made ​​a video-appeal, in which he warned the unauthorized actions' organizers and participants of liability in case of violations of public order.