HFHR activist detained in Belarus

At about 11:30 on the morning of Saturday, 28 May 2011, several human rights activists were detained by the Militia in Minsk, reports the Committee on International Control over the Situation with Human Rights in Belarus. The arrest took place during a seminar on Police reform, held at the headquarters of the Belarusian National Front.

Among those arrested was an employee of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Olga Salomatova. The other detainees were Vadim Pivovarov, Oleg Martynenko and Alla Blagaya from the Ukraine, and Belarusian nationals Alexander Sosnov, Lyudmila Isakova and Aleh Hulak, head of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee.

After having been warned not to take any action contrary to Belarusian law, the detainees were released from custody around 2 p.m.