MINSK, August 24. /TASS/: Two members of Belarus’ opposition coordination council, Olga Kovalkova and Sergei Dylevsky, were detained on Monday on charges of organizing an unauthorized rally, as follows from a post on Kovalkova’s Facebook account.
"Riot police accused them of organizing an unauthorized rally and took away in a prison van," the post reads. The two were detained on Monday morning near the Minsk Tractor Plant where they had arrived "to speak with the workers on strike and a deputy director in charge of ideological work."
Meanwhile, Minsk Police Spokeswoman Natalia Ganusevich told TASS Kovalkova and Dylevsky had been detained as part of an administrative offence case. She did not specify details of the case.
Earlier on Monday, the Belsat television channel posted a video on its Telegram channel featuring the moment of Dylevsky’s and Kovalkova’s detention when they were being placed in a prison van by police officers.
On August 9, Belarus held its sixth presidential election since declaring independence in 1991. According to the final results of Sunday’s voting, the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, won 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, scored 10.12% of votes.
Mass protests and clashes with police took place in Minsk and other Belarusian cities after exit poll results were made public. As a result, some 7,000 people were detained, dozens of law enforcers and demonstrators were injured during the first days of protests. Some Belarusian enterprises tried to organize strikes demanding elections be recognized as invalid. The opposition set up a coordination council for peaceful transfer of power. Later, Lukashenko’s supporters also began to organize rallies in Minsk.
