Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz The archbishop of Minsk prayed outside of a prison in Belarus where detained protesters were reported to have been tortured.
With a rosary in his hands, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz [pictured] walked the streets in front of the Akrestsin Street pre-trial detention centre at 3pm on August 19, reported the website of the Catholic Church in Belarus.
After praying the chaplet of Divine Mercy, the archbishop spoke with released protesters who had been detained at Akrestsin Street.
The detention centre itself became the site of protests following Belarus’ disputed presidential election in which government electoral officials announced that Alexander Lukashenko – who has ruled the country for five consecutive terms since 1994 – had won 80% of the vote.
An estimated 6,700 people were arrested in the protests in which demonstrators clashed with police forces. Many protesters were released on August 13. A number of released protesters made allegations of torture and ill treatment, according to the United Nations’ representative in Belarus.
Archbishop Kondrus-iewicz called on the govern-ment of Belarus to allow priests to visit imprisoned protesters earlier this week and appealed to the country’s interior minister to release the detainees.
The archbishop himself was barred from entering the Akrestsin Street pre-trial detention centre after his prayer.