Two reporters were arrested in Minsk

Reporters Alyaksandr Yarashevich and Dzmitry Halko were arrested and charged with disobedience to police in Minsk on May 6, BelaPAN reports.

The pair were walking from the detention center on Akrestsina Street, where they had met opposition activists released from the jail, when a police minibus pulled over nearby and they were bundled into the vehicle without any explanations, said the press office of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

Messrs. Yarashevich and Halko were expected to stand trial on the charge in the Maskowski District Court on Tuesday.

Mr. Yarashevich, a reporter for Polish-based Radio Racyja, was arrested on Minsk on the night of April 26 following the "Charnobylski Shlyakh" (Path of Chernobyl) demonstration, an annual event staged by opposition and environmental groups to mark the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. A district judge found him guilty of failing to comply with lawful orders of police officers and sentenced him to three days in jail.

Hours before his arrest on May 6, Mr. Yarashevich appealed the jail term to the Minsk City Court.