Belarus on Monday jailed several among the almost 400 protesters arrested in a brutal police crackdown on Independence Day protests against strongman President Alexander Lukashenko's regime. The Vyasna rights group said 210 people were arrested in the capital Minsk where hundreds took part in Sunday's protests, while another 180 were seized in other parts of the country, including the regional centres of Grodno, Gomel and Mogilev.
Vyasna's spokesman Valentin Stefanovich said 140 people in Minsk alone spent the night in jail and were to appear before courts on charges of hooliganism. By late Monday afternoon, 20 people had been handed jail sentences of up to 15 days in prison while dozens of others awaited their turn in packed courtrooms. Several hearings were put off to Tuesday.
"The authorities must immediately free all those detained and ensure freedom of assembly for citizens and stop the shameful practice of beating and detaining the participants in rallies," Vyasna said. Responding to calls for a rally by the Internet-based group "Revolution through the Social Network", the protesters defied warnings and state jamming of websites to turn out on Sunday evening.
They sought to show their dissatisfaction with Lukashenko by clapping their hands. But police arrested anyone who joined in the applause, beating activists and firing tear gas, an AFP correspondent in Minsk said. Most of the arrests were carried out by police in plain-clothes who mingled with protesters, with only electronic earpieces betraying their affiliation to the security forces.
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