Mass arrests in Minsk

A mourning marathon in Minsk in memory of victims of repression began with detentions.

The police detained 23 people, among them a 8-year-old child, Radio Svaboda reports. They were taking part in a procession at the Kalvaryiskiya Cemetery in memory of Stalin's victims. The police detained the activists for laying flowers on the graves of the victims of Stalin's purges.

Activists Aliaksei Shein, Uladzimir Ramanouski, Hanna Shaputska, Ales Makayeu, Halina Siuchyk, Illia Dabratvor and his son as well as journalists Natallia Valakida, Siarhei Krauchuk, Natallia Benitsevich and Aliaksandr Karsakou were detained.

Police officers took them to a police station for identification. The detainees were divided into groups. Their mobile phones were collected.

The detainees prayed, sang the hymn “God Almighty” and chanted “Long live Belarus” at the Frunzenski district police station.

The police checked the IDs of the activists and began to release them two hours later. It was figured out that the police had been called by the cemetery director.

October 29 is the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarian Repression. More than 100 Belarusian intellectuals – writers, scientists and public officials – were executed in the NKVD jail in Minsk on the night from October 29 to October 30 in 1937.