Mr. Ales Bialiatski,vice-president of FIDH
On December 10, 2008 in Minsk, Hrodna and Mahiliou,
Belarus, human rights activists were arrested and arbitrarily detained for
distributing copies of - and brochures on - the Universal Declaration:
In Minsk, six persons were detained: Mr. Ales
Bialiatski,vice-president of FIDH, Mr. Uladzimir
Labkovich, Mr. Aleh Matskevich, Ms. Maryna
Statkevch, Mr. Siarzhuk Sys and Ms. Iryna Toustsik.
In Hrodna, the police detained Messrs. Aleh Kalinkou, Uladzimir
Khilmanovich and Viktar Sazonau. They were released a few hours later,
after the police asked them to produce written explanations and asserted that
they would decide at a later date whether to draft any violation reports
against them.
In Mahiliou, Messrs. Alexander Karaliou and Alexander
Padalian were also subjected to arbitrary detention and subsequently
released.