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Young opposition activist Pavel Vinahradaw arrested in Minsk

Prominent young opposition activist Pavel Vinahradaw was arrested by police in Minsk on Friday morning, apparently to prevent him from staging a protest as the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) holds a meeting in the capital city.

Police officer Alyaksandr Davidzyuk arrived at the home of the leader of the youth wing of the “Tell the Truth!” movement at about 7 a.m. and announced that he would have to spend all day in a police station and would be allowed to go home in the evening.

“He made no explanations, but I think that the police were either aware that he was planning some protest or simply wanted to be on the safe side,” Mr. Vinahradaw’s wife, Svyatlana, told BelaPAN. “I’ve just phoned our lawyer. He will contact the Maskowski district police station. However, I think that police officers will claim either that Pavel is not there or that he is being interviewed, which can go on forever. The officers could have phoned my husband and he would have come to the police station voluntarily, like he did yesterday.”

In May 2011, Mr. Vinahradaw was sentenced to four years in prison in connection with a post-election protest staged in the Belarusian capital city on December 19, 2010. He was among 11 post-election protesters pardoned by Alyaksandr Lukashenka on September 14, 2011.

In April 2012, Mr. Vinahradaw was placed under "preventive" police supervision. He is prohibited from leaving Minsk without police permission and required to stay at home from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. and report to probation officers on a regular basis.

Last year Mr. Vinahradaw stood trial at least 10 times for various minor civil offenses and spent a total of 66 days in jail.

He was released from jail after serving out the most recent jail term on May 4. //BelaPAN