Over 100 Detained In Minsk Ahead Of Presidential Poll

Police in Belarus detained more than 100 people at opposition rallies in the capital, Minsk, and elsewhere on June 19 after President Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced his government had thwarted a "revolution" amid a widening crackdown on opposition leaders and activists. Among those rounded up by uniformed and plainclothes police officers were RFE/RL's Belarus Service correspondent Alyaksandra Dynko and her cameraman, Andrey Rabchyk, during their live coverage of a rally in Minsk. Rabchyk kept his camera running their detention. They were both taken to a police station and released -- with their equipment -- several hours later. Dynko said her interrogation was filmed by the police and she was told that she had "meddled" in the event and acted "provocatively". When she asked her interrogator what exactly he had meant by that, he told her he didn’t have to answer any of her questions.