OMON Police Detains Observers of Election in Ukraine During Briefing in Hotel Belarus

22.12.2004.

On 22 December Belarusian observers had a briefing about their mission during the second tour of the presidential election in Ukraine. The briefing held in Hotel Belarus was at its height when OMON police burst in and detained over 100 participants of the meeting. The participants – representatives of pro-democratic NGOs – were supposed to leave for Kyiv that evening to participate in observation of the Ukrainian election as part of ENEMO international mission. All Belarusian observers had already been accredited by the Central Election Commission of Ukraine as international observers. The detention was video recorded by people in plain clothes.
The detained participants of the briefing were taken to Centralny police board for identification.

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