Belarusian embassy in Moscow picketed over political prisoners

• 16.02.2008, 18:20

A crowd of roughly 30 people picketed the Belarusian embassy in Moscow on February 16 to demand the release of political prisoners.

The activists, mostly members of Russian liberal movements, collected signatures to a petition calling for the release of journalist Alyaksandr Zdvizhkow and opposition youth Andrey Kim, Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio station reported.

Representatives of the Belarusian diplomatic mission could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

Mr. Zdvizhkow was sentenced to three years in prison last month over the reprinting of the controversial Danish cartoons of Prophet Muhammad.

Mr. Kim, who was arrested on January 21 and sentenced to 10 days in jail for participation in an unsanctioned protest, is still held in a detention center, facing a charge of “violence or threats of violence against a police officer.”

Opposition activists in Belarus and sympathizers throughout the world have been observing a so-called Day of Solidarity on the 16th day of each month since September 16, 2005, the anniversary of the 1999 abduction of opposition politician Viktar Hanchar and his friend, businessman Anatol Krasowski, in which high-ranking government officials are believed to have been involved.