In ENGLISH | РУС/УКР
Sign in | Register
Mobile version | Subscription | RSS Archive
KyivPost

Rights group: Social network activists detained in Belarus

Print version
Aug. 30, 2012, 6:27 p.m. | Russia and former Soviet Union — by Reuters

Belarussian police have detained at least four people who were involved in running an anti-government online group on the popular social network Vkontakte.ru.
© en.wikipedia.org

SEE ALSO

MINSK - Belarussian police have detained at least four people who were involved in running an anti-government online group on the popular social network Vkontakte.ru, local human rights group Vesna-96 said on Thursday.

Police could not be reached for comment.

Vesna-96 published the names of four people who it said were moderators of an online group called "We are sick of this Lukashenko", a reference to President Alexander Lukashenko who has run the former Soviet republic since 1994.

The group's page was unavailable on Thursday. Vesna said "a few more" people linked to the group had been detained but did not name them.

Lukashenko, who tolerates little dissent and has been targeted by European Union sanctions including a travel ban over his crackdown on opposition, faced a wave of protests last year that were organised through social networks.

Police detained about 1,500 people during those protests and hundreds were sentenced fines and short jail terms.

Belarus will hold a parliamentary election on September 23, certain to yield a legislature loyal to Lukashenko.

READ MORE IN SECTION
The Kyiv Post is hosting comments to foster lively debate. Criticism is fine, but stick to the issues. Comments that include profanity or personal attacks will be removed from the site. If you think that a posted comment violates these standards, please flag it and alert us. We will take steps to block violators.
Advertising link

KyivPost

© 1995–2012 Public Media

Web links to Kyiv Post material are allowed provided that they contain a URL hyperlink to the www.kyivpost.com material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. Otherwise, all materials contained on this site are protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced without the prior written permission of Public Media at news@kyivpost.com
All information of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency placed on this web site is designed for internal use only. Its reproduction or distribution in any form is prohibited without a written permission of Interfax-Ukraine.