Today in Belarus’s capital Minsk, an Australian Journalist, Kitti Green, was detained by Belarus officials for filming/participating in a FEMEN protest near the KGB headquarters. The protest itself is quite extraordinary. FEMEN activists dressed themselves as Belarus’s oligarch, Alexander Lukashenko. They even managed to find a girl who was willing to shave her head in a fashion similar to Lukashenko’s, and one whose resemblance to Lukashenko is quite uncanny (see right).

The protest is held today in remembrance of last years mass protests in Minsk regarding the disputed re-election of Lukashenko. Since the protests, many people are still being held in prison. FEMEN activists held up signs calling for the freedom for political prisons and solidarity for Belarus citizens.

Not surprisingly, in a state like Belarus, such actions aren’t welcomed. The police quickly came down on the protesters. While the FEMEN activists managed to escape, Kitti Green was not so lucky. She was quickly detained and taken away. Such actions are illegal by international law, detainment of journalists (in my understanding) is not allowed unless some prior to embargo was put in place. Since no such agreement exists between Belarus and Australia, it is my understanding that Australian journalists have free reign in Belarus. I would love it, though, if someone could point out whether or not this is true and what in fact the international journalistic laws entail when dealing with foreign journalists on your homeland.

FEMEN is asking all those that can to put political pressure on Belarus to release their foreign prisoner. Kitti Green is being illegally detained. Australian diplomats in Belarus must make an effort to free their national.

Kitti Green can be seen in the photo at the top, as well as the photo below. If you can, please help put pressure on Belarus to free the activist. Feel free to call the embassy, call your senators, call whomever you think will help. Belarus must understand that the detainment of foreign nationals on their land will not be accepted when all they are doing is their journalistic duty. The Belarus Embassy information is as follows:

1619 New Hampshire Avenue Northwest

Washington, DC 20009-2550

(202) 986-1604

Below you will see a short video followed by images of the protest. As always, they are taken from FEMEN’s livejournal site.