Free Theater released from police station
Directors, actors and fans of the Free Theater have been freed from a police custody in Minsk. At 0130 on August 23, the last of the detainees, including Mikalay Khalezin, the theater manager, walked out free from the Sovietski District Police Department. Police commandos at 2030 on August 22 raided a private house in the vicinity of the Bangalore Square in Minsk where the Free Theater was premiering 11 Jackets by Edward Bond.
Over 50 people, including French director Christian Benedetti, managers of a French theater and two professors from a Dutch-based theater school, were detained during the raid. They were taken to the Sovietski District Police Department and held for several hours, reports Charter'97.
The detainees were forced to write explanations, but no charges were brought. This is the first time when the police have dispersed a premier theater show directed by the French director, not an opposition-staged street action, notes the web site of Charter'97
Over 50 people, including French director Christian Benedetti, managers of a French theater and two professors from a Dutch-based theater school, were detained during the raid. They were taken to the Sovietski District Police Department and held for several hours, reports Charter'97.
The detainees were forced to write explanations, but no charges were brought. This is the first time when the police have dispersed a premier theater show directed by the French director, not an opposition-staged street action, notes the web site of Charter'97
