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Ukraine's Femen to campaign for moving 2014 world hockey championship from Belarus

Ukraine's feminist group Femen has launched a campaign for stripping Belarus of the right to host the 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship.

When reached by BelaPAN on Thursday, Femen leader Hanna Hutsol declined to speak in detail about the campaign but warned that "it will be powerful, it will be uncomfortable and painful for Belarusian government officials." "We will do our utmost to make the world public know what is happening in Belarus. There will be no world hockey championship in Belarus," she promised.

Three Femen activists staged a topless anti-Lukashenka protest in front of the headquarters of the Committee for State Security (KGB) in Minsk last December. Shortly after the bold protest, they were abducted by unknown men in the Belarusian capital and terrorized into the early hours of the following day.

Commenting on the Belarusian police's refusal to institute criminal proceedings in connection with the incident, Ms. Hutsol said that the decision came as no surprise. "We are certain that no proper inquiry was conducted. They did not contact our girls, did not ask them to provide the findings of their medical examinations. This all confirms suggestions that our girls were abducted by secret services and the police are just covering for their colleagues," she said.