MINSK, Belarus — Rights activists in Belarus say about 10 opposition supporters and independent journalists were detained during a protest march in the capital.
About 2,000 people marched through the center of Minsk on Sunday carrying opposition flags and portraits of political prisoners.
They were commemorating Freedom Day, the anniversary of the 1918 declaration of the first, short-lived independent Belarusian state.
The demonstration has become an annual tradition for the opposition in Belarus, a former Sovietrepublic now under the authoritarian leadership of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The protesters shouted “Long live Belarus” and “Down with Lukashenko.”
Tatyana Revyako of the human rights center Vesna said the special forces detained demonstrators who were carrying portraits of political prisoners.
Eleven people remain in prison for their political activism, including former presidential candidate Nikolai Statkevich.
