About 300 protesters detained at rallies in Belarus on Sun - rights activists

MINSK. Feb 27 (Interfax) - Nearly 300 people were detained at protests in Belarus on Sunday, in particular, near the polling stations where voting in a referendum on constitutional amendments was taking place, the Viasna human rights center, which is unregistered in Belarus, said.

There were 290 people on the lists of those detained as of 10:20 p.m. local time on the voting day.

Detentions took place in Minsk, Grodno, Gomel, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Baranovichi, Lida, Polotsk, Novopolotsk, Zhodino, Svetlogorsk, Zaslavl, Bobruisk, and Dokshitsy.

The opposition called on opponents of the authorities to gather near the polling stations on Sunday afternoon and protest against the situation surrounding Ukraine.

The opposition activists also urged its supporters to gather for a protest outside the General Staff of the Belarusian army. According to eyewitnesses, law enforcement officers dispersed the protesters.

Voting at the referendum ended at 8 p.m. local time. The referendum was found valid since more than half of the voters have voted. According to the Central Election Commission, the voter turnout stood at 78.61%.