17:28, 17 March 2006

OSCE observers from Georgia detained in Minsk airport

A group of Georgian MPs who flew to Minsk on March 16 for taking part in monitoring presidential elections in Belarus within the OSCE mission has been detained by the law enforcement agencies in Minsk airport. Zurab Kvachadze, consul of the Georgian embassy in Ukraine, has told journalists that the Georgian diplomats are not granted the right to meet with the detained MPs for almost a day. "According to the recent information, the deputies will be able to fly to Tbilisi on Saturday. They can not do it earlier because they have no visas of other states and the flight to Tbilisi is only scheduled for tomorrow," said Kvachadze, reports "Interfax."

For reference, on Thursday, March 16, Stepan Sukharenko, head of Belarusian KGB, stated at the press-conference in Minsk that the Belarusian opposition involves employees of Georgian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian embassies into illegal actions. In particular, Sukharenko accused activists of the Georgian "rose revolution" and the MPs of an attempt to organize disturbances in Belarus during the night of the elections.