Belarus’ opposition council members detained on charges of organizing unauthorized rally

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.