Belarusian Activist Sentenced For 'Vulgar Words'

MINSK -- A Minsk court sentenced an activist from the unregistered opposition Young Front organization, Kasya Halitskaya, to 10 days in jail for hooliganism.

She was found guilty of "using vulgar words in public" while attending trials of her colleagues on July 17.

In all, five activists of the organization have been sentenced to up to 15 days in jail for using vulgar words in public this week.

The Young Front issued an open letter to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev just hours before his visit to Minsk on July 18.

The activists urged Medvedev to intervene on behalf of their organization.

According to the authors of the letter, Belarusian authorities usually arrest activists on the eve of visits by Russian top officials to Minsk, to prevent their public actions.

With reporting by mfront.net