Arrests of politicians in Belarus are becoming a daily occurrence, it seems, as br23 blog reports:
Another one was arrested today… Believe it or not, the man is not even taking part in this campaign. He’s too old, and he has cardiac problems. He’s on heart medication.
Siarhiej Antonchyk was walking with his son when they was bundled into a car by plainclothes police officers, then each jailed for 15 days for resisting arrest. (Which, purely co-incidentally of course, means that they’ll be locked up until just after the election).
This charge is clearly absurd – in Minsk, if a bunch of men in civilian clothes attack you and try to bundle you into a car, the natural assumption is always going to be that this is a kidnap attempt, rather than necessarily an arrest. Most anyone with any brains – or, at least, a healthy self-preservation instinct – would resist being bundled into a car in this way.
If the police in Belarus don’t want people to resist arrest, perhaps they should wear their uniforms more often.
One final note – according to this story, a total of six opposition activists / politicians were arrested on Friday.