Opposition Gains Courage In Belarus

A relatively quiet Presidential election campaign is becoming increasingly noisy, with the assault and arrest of a minor candidate and the threat of rallies in Minsk from another.

Social Democratic Party leader Alexander Kozulin and three others were detained after trying to interrupt a Soviet-style congress organised to heap praise on President Lukashenko. Kozulin had allegedly been critical of Lukashenko in a recent television adress (one thing all candidates are allowed in this election is a 30-minute TV pitch) and claimed "I wanted to tell the truth about the dictatorship we live in".

Meanwhile the main opposition candidate, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, has called a preelection rally later today in the capital, Minsk, without government permission. Milinkevich said if police use force to break up today's rally, the opposition "reserve the right to take appropriate measures."

Oddly enough, the Milinkevich's webpage has gone down...