MINSK, March 2 (RIA Novosti) - An opposition rally in the Belarusian capital Minsk ended Thursday without any major incidents, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the site.
The rally attracted 1,500-3,000 people, who attempted to march along the streets of the capital but were temporarily stopped by the police. The crowd started to disperse but resumed the march when Alexander Kozulin, the leader of social-democratic party Gramada, arrived at the scene.
Kozulin was about to undergo registration at the All-Belarusian Assembly, currently being held in Minsk, when police detained him inside the building and took him to a police station in the capital's Oktyabrsky District.
Minsk prosecutors accused Kozulin of hooliganism.
First Deputy Prosecutor Nikolai Starovoitov said the candidate had pushed a policeman during registration and then damaged a picture of President Alexander Lukashenko at the police station.
Lukashenko called the incident a provocation.
Kozulin was later released but is facing a fine, one to two months of community service, or a five-day administrative arrest.
The Belarus State Security Committee reported that it had uncovered a state coup plot masterminded by the radical opposition and planned for March 20, after the presidential elections.
Lukashenko later said the state had banned the activities of 72 NGOs suspected of plotting the coup.
