The Belarusian opposition politician and 2010 presidential candidate Nikolai Statkevich, who was held in Minsk earlier on March 25, has been placed under a ten-day administrative arrest, according to the Vesna center, a non-registered human rights group.
“Nikolai Statkevich has been sentenced to a ten-day administrative arrest,” Vesna said.
It was reported that Statkevich, who had been denied permission to march from Yakub Kolas Square to the venue of a festive concert marking the 100th anniversary of the Belarusian People’s Republic (BPR), was detained on March 25 morning.
Also detained in the square were about 30 people with white-red-white flags and flowers, who were probably planning to join Statkevich’s procession. Among those detained were several Vesna observers and journalists.
On March 25 the Belarusian opposition conducted authorized events to mark the BPR centenary. The Minsk City Executive Committee had approved their application for a rally and a concert to be held outside Grand Opera and Ballet Theater on March 25.
Statkevich’s application for a separate march was turned down.
The Belarusian opposition marks Freedom Day on March 25 each year. Last year the event was banned and ended in arrests, including of journalists.
The BPR was a political entity proclaimed in 1918 by a group of Belarusian nationalist movement activists. As an independent entity, the BPR existed in 1918-1919, after which its government had to emigrate. Historical debates continue on whether the BPR can be called a state or whether it was only an attempt to found one.
