Updated at 17:53,27-03-2024

Belarusian opposition activist arrested after 'Pig Heads' protest

RFE/RL

An opposition activist in Belarus has been arrested after staging an unusual antigovernment protest in Minsk using the heads of dead pigs.

Police detained Paval Vinahradau on September 27 after he erected a protest installation in Minsk's Kamarou Market.

Vinahradau placed posters designed to look like thought bubbles next to the pigs' heads, with sayings such as "Even I did not vote for Luka," referring to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, or " "Sasha [Lukashenka], do not be a pig, release all political prisoners," and "What the oink? Gasoline gets twice as expensive each month?"

Vinahradau, who has served numerous several-day jail terms for various protest actions in the recent past, told RFE/RL by telephone that he was currently being held at a police station in the capital.