Belarusian Police Detain Opposition Supporters

Supporters of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka seize an opposition supporter at an opposition rally in Brest on March 11 (epa)

March 13, 2006 -- Police in Belarus have detained some 20 people at a rally addressed by Alyaksandr Milinkevich, the main opposition candidate in presidential elections to be held on March 19.

Those arrested at the March 12 rally in Minsk could face up to 15 days in prison if found guilty.

They were charged with staging an illegal gathering.

Several Ukrainian nationals were also detained briefly, including a television reporter whose live broadcast was interrupted by the police action.

Authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is running for a third term. Opposition groups, human rights advocates, the European Union, and the United States have all said they expect the election to be neither free nor fair.

(Reuters)