An action in support of imprisoned journalists passed off in Moscow

A piquet in support of the journalists taken into custody in the countries of CIS passed off in Moscow, opposite the Belarusian embassy. The participants also spoke about the cases of victimization and murders of journalists in Northern and Southern Caucasus.

About fifty people took part in the piquet. They expressed their support of the journalists taken into custody in Minsk. Some of the people were wearing something like stripy prisoners' overalls as a sign of solidarity with their imprisoned colleagues.

Journalist Victoria Ivleva, organizer of the piquet, was distributing to passers by stamped New Year's greeting cards with addresses written on them suggesting to send the cards to the investigative isolation ward of KGB in Minsk. Representatives of mass media including Russian ones as well as Belarusian oppositionists are there now. They were arrested during dispersal of oppositional meeting on the day of presidential elections in Belarus.

"We hope the people who are now in the investigative isolation ward of KGB will get at least a piece of information of this piquet. They will know that they are not lonely, that there are people in Russia thinking about them. At the moment 21 persons are kept in the investigative isolation ward, two women journalists among them", Victoria Ivleva said to a reporter of "Caucasian Knot".

According to Ivleva, the events going on in Belarus are gradually being spread all over CIS. Russia had been the first of such countries but Belarus has already caught up and left it behind. Olga Bobrova, a participant of the action, told a reporter of "Caucasian Knot" that Russian and Belarusian journalists, human rights activists and just people who wished to express their solidarity with the prisoners were present at the piquet. "Russia is also very steadily moving towards this kind of development", Bobrova remarked.

Dmitry Muratov, Editor-in-Chief of "Novaya Gazeta" which had organized the action, participant of the piquet, too, considers that reiteration of such a situation in Russia is impossible for a higher developed society has been formed here.

"Events with the arrest of political opponents similar to the ones Lukashenko has organized are impossible in Russia. It is difficult to say what is going on in the Caucasus in this respect, the mode of life is quite different there", Muratov added.

"If we do not support the people who are now in exile in Belarus Russia is going to have the same sort of regime", Dmtry Khazbenko, one of the passers by, said to a reporter of "Caucasian Knot" present at the meeting.

Boris Nemtsov also joined the piquet and started chanting together with other participants: "Luka to prison" and "Freedom for political prisoners". He states that the events in Belarus are outrageous as well as the fact of congratulating Lukashenko on his victory at the elections by the Russian leaders after such a dispersal of the oppositionists.