Nine people were detained near the Belarusian embassy in Moscow due to a meeting of fellow citizens

In Moscow, at the Embassy of Belarus, the police detained nine people because of a meeting of fellow citizens. Ekaterina, one of the detainees, told OVD-Info about this.

What became the basis for the arrests is unknown. Those gathered at the embassy were led into a paddy wagon and taken to the Basmanny police station. Among the detainees there is one minor. The police have not yet told the detainees what violation they are charged with.

It is possible that the police mistook the meeting of fellow citizens for a protest action in support of the inhabitants of Belarus: mass protests began there after the presidential elections on August 9, 2020.

The protesters believe that the election results were rigged in favor of the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko. The actions caused a resonance in Russia as well.

23:20 All detainees were released from the police department, except for the minor: he was left until his parents arrived, Ekaterina told OVD-Info.

The detainees were released without protocol after a "preventive conversation".

23:55 The minor detainee was also released from the police department without protocols, a friend of the detainees told OVD-Info.

• Police in St. Petersburg on March 24 detained five Belarusians because of a video message in support of their compatriots. On March 25 and 26 , the courts ordered arrests for all of them . One of the detainees was released immediately after the trial, but the police detained him again . Also, at the exit from the special detention center on March 28, two participants in the recording of the video message were detained .