Today 230 participants of peaceful protest rallies in Minsk were taken to the courts of Minsk. Most of them were sentenced to 10 or 15 days of arrest. The verdicts have not been passed to all of them. The courts are overcrowded, trials are to continue tomorrow. We offer you a list of persons tried today.

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Today home searches have taken place in the apartments of the leaders of the Young Front organization. Documents and printed materials were confiscated; activists of the youth organization were detained.

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About 25 participants of the protest action on October Square in Minsk, detained on March 24, were taken from the town of Zhodzina to the court of Zavodski district of Minsk. The detainees were taken to Zavodski district court in special police bus and paddy wagon. They were convoyed by eight riot policemen in black clothes. The activists were taken out one by one, some of them with tied hands. Their friends and relatives were impressed by that, as the detainees were guarded as dangerous criminals, the Radio Svaboda informs.

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After news item about riot policemen (SWAT), injured during the peaceful protest on March 25 was demonstrated on TV, the following information was published in one of the Belarusian blogs at www.livejournal.com: “I am a practicing physician, who had worked as an emergency doctor for several years. As a medic, I was surprised by TV news about injured riot policemen. Their traumas allegedly received during demonstration’s sweep raise doubts.

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“We, as concerned people, and those who have been personally affected by the total lawlessness observed these days in Belarus, have an idea of increasing effectiveness of the EU sanctions against persons involved in propaganda of the dictatorship. In order to let as many people as possible know about the existence of the black list (not only those who have internet-access to independent information sources), and in order that list could have effect on a concrete person, we propose:

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As the UCP press service has been told by one of the professors of Minsk city vocational-technical school of instrument making number 8, today students of the school were excused from attending classes. They were told to gather at 12 noon and were taken to a meeting of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union in front of the American Embassy in Minsk. All the students are underage. A week ago the same students have signed a paper which prohibits them to take part in opposition meetings. One should also remember that all rallies in front of the Embassies of the EU and USA are unsanctioned. Their participants on the order of their organizer, pro-Lukashenka Belarusian Republican Youth Union, are “protesting” against the policy of the EU an US against Lukashenka’s dictatorship. It is clear why they are not prevented from picketing embassies. Only those who demand freedom and fair elections in their country are arrested in Belarus.

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41 journalists were detained in Minsk during protest actions against fraudulent presidential election results. Journalists of the major Belarusian independent newspapers are arrested: Andrei Dynko, Vadzim Aleksandrovich, Vadzim Kaznacheeu. Besides, a journalists of Polish newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza” Veranika Samalinska, journalists of Georgian state TV Georgy Lagidza and Nino Giogabiani, Russian journalists Alexandr Padrabinek, Oleg Kozlovsky and Eduard Glezin, a Canadian reporter Frederick Lavoie are sentenced to administrative arrests. A journalist of American newspaper “Wall street journal” Alan Callisun was beaten up.

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Women-demonstrators are tried in the court of Kastrychnitski district of Minsk. Judge Pratasavitskaya is passing harsh judgments, sentencing them to 10 or 15 days of administrative arrest. Only relatives were allowed to be present in the court room. Journalists were put out of the court. 18 women have been passed sentences already: L.A. Eudakimava, L.S.Tsitova, D.V. Kastsenka, Y.T. Laurynovich, A.Y. Chakhauskaya, V.V. Silkova, T.M. Dzyadok, E. I. Yankovich. I.Y. Zavadskaya are sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest; Y.V. Balonkina, N.A. Narel, I. A. Dzyachek, N.V. Tarasava, V.V. Malashchitskaya, L.V. Bukhalenka, T.N. Kuushynava, V.T. Palevikova – to 15 days of administrative arrest, K.V. Shatsikava – to 20 basic units.

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“The detainees tell their relatives that men were beaten up in the buses and in the special detention center of Minsk city executive committee in Akrestsin Street. Most of the verdicts of the courts are 10 and 15 days of arrest. There was only one sentence of 4 days,” told a lawyer of the human rights center “Viasna” Valyantsin Stefanovich. As said by Belarusian human rights activists, in the court of Zavadski district courts are closed. Relatives and representatives of the media have not been allowed.

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For the second day in a row pro-Lukashenka Belarusian Republican Youth Union is holding an unsanctioned pickets in front of embassies of the EU countries. Yesterday they had enough people from their own organization, and today they decided to gather as many people as possible. The Charter’97 press center has received information that Minsk universities have received an order to send students to pickets. For instance, students of Physical Culture University were sent to French Embassy. Students of the polygraphic industry department of the Belarusian State Technology University inform that they are told to go to Polish Embassy on Thursday. All these “picketers” are to protest against the policy of the EU towards Lukashenka’s dictatorship.

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In the course of the last few weeks events have been taking place in Belarus that cannot leave indifferent not only people of this country, but also any citizen, wherever he or she might be, who puts the ideals of freedom first.

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As is reported, on March 27 at 1 p.m. the head of special projects department of the First Russian TV channel Pavel Sheremet was released from the special detention center in Akrestsin St. (Okrestin St.).

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In the court of Lenin district of Minsk two verdicts have been delivered to Russian citizens, Oleg Kozlovskiy and Eduard Glezin. They were detained on March 24 on October Square. They were charged with violation of the Article 167 Part 1 (violation of the order of organizing or carrying out assemblies, meetings, street marches, demonstrations) and sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest.

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Information about the people injured during dispersing of a peaceful protest on March 25 is withheld from relatives and journalists by hospitals of Minsk. Moreover, human rights watchdogs say that doctors have been prohibited to register demonstrators who were seeking medical advice in hospitals. It is known that Syarhei Atroshchnka (Sergei Otroshchenko), who had been placed to Minsk hospital number 4 in grave condition, was taken from the hospital to an undisclosed location. It is unknown what has happened to him. The situation looks even stranger, taking in consideration that first he had been reported to be killed.

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Today detained participants of the protest on October Square and of the demonstration on March 25 are to face trial. People are kept in remand prisons of Minsk, Minsk regional and district remand prisons. The total number of detained is unknown, but according to the lists made by relatives, there are about 1,000 of them. Family members of the detained cannot get information from workers of detention centers, and are nit told in which courts the trials would take place. For two weeks dozens of oppositionists have been tried in different courts of Minsk.

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