Lines Lengthen Outside Jails As Belarus Tightens Crackdown
- By Ray Furlong and
- Current Time
Every week, lines of people gather overnight outside a detention center in Minsk, hoping to deliver packets of food and clothing for loved ones being held inside when the gates open in the morning. Since October, they have only been allowed to do this on Thursdays, and there are so many people that they cannot be sure they will be able to deliver their packets. Some 25,000 people have been arrested since protests began in August against a presidential election widely seen as rigged.