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Over 20 people briefly detained in Minsk for remembering Stalin terror victims

Twenty-two people were arrested during a ceremony to commemorate Stalin terror victims in Minsk on Tuesday but were released from the Frunzenski district police station without charges two hours later.

The opposition and civil society activists were laying flowers at the Kalvaryyskiya Cemetery in the presence of journalists when police officers arrived and ordered the crowd to enter police vehicles.

Emerging from the police station, Soviet-era political prisoner Syarhey Khanzhenkaw said that the police had treated them politely. "One had an impression that they did not like their role," he said.

"It was the beginning of an event to remember Stalin terror victims, in particular the people who were executed on October 29, 1937," said civil society activist Uladzimir Ramanowski. "As we were exiting the Kalvaryyskiya Cemetery we were invited to the district police station, the policemen used no physical force. The stupidity of the move is surprising. They failed to disrupt the event. This is the theater of the absurd… A person in his right mind just cannot comprehend such actions by the authorities."

The people planned to go ahead with their plans to visit Stalin-era massacre sites in Loshytsa Park, near what was formerly the village of Trastsyanets and in Chalyuskintsaw Park in a "marathon" marking Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression (October 30), which has been observed in post-Soviet countries since 1991. The tour was expected to end at about 6 p.m. at Kurapaty, an unofficial memorial in a woody area just outside Minsk. Participants were expected to light candles and pray for Stalin terror victims and for national repentance. //BelaPAN