MINSK, 21 February (BelTA) – The man who attempted to disrupt the press conference of the OSCE's special representative in the trilateral contact group on Ukraine Ambassador Martin Sajdik was deported from Belarus, BelTA learned from the Interior Ministry of Belarus.
As BelTA reported earlier, a group of persons, with Russian passports and press cards of the Russkaya Planeta edition, introduced themselves as representatives of The Other Russia party (unregistered in the Russian Federation) and made an attempt to disrupt Ambassador Martin Sajdik's press conference in Minsk on 15 February. They threw leaflets and shouted slogans. They were quickly removed by law enforcement officials from the room. One of the participants was detained. On 16 February the court of Lenin District of Minsk sentenced him to five-day administrative detention.
The press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it viewed the action as a deliberate provocation aimed at disrupting the negotiating process and discrediting the Minsk negotiating platform. The Belarusian side stressed it will continue to take all measures to ensure the safety and smooth operation of the trilateral contact group and will immediately stop all attempts to hinder its work.
