Prison for national flag?

Barys Khamaida and Alyaksandr Salauyan, democratic activists from Vitebsk, were detained yesterday. They spent the night in the remand jail.

Igar Balashou, duty officer of the Kastrychnitski district militia department, refused to say to journalists what offence the activists had been detained for, Radio Svaboda reports.

Paval Levinau, representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, had to write a complaint against unlawful activity of the militia, and phone to the area internal affairs department. He was said there Khamaida and Salauyan had been detained the day before at 7pm, and were kept in the militia department. They are accused of unauthorised picket, they allegedly had, having hung out a white-red-white national flag.

The trial is to take place in the court of the Kastrychnitski district of Vitebsk.