One-armed man fined $200 in Belarus for clapping at unsanctioned rally

A court in Belarus fined a one-armed man for taking part in unsanctioned "clapping" protests in Minsk earlier in the week, Belarusian information website Khartiya-97 reported on Friday. "The court ruled that the disabled man by the name of Konstantin will have to pay a fine of 1.05 million Belarusian rubles [some $200]," the website said. The man was found guilty by the court of clapping in a public place. The fact that the man was clapping was proved by one of the witnesses during the trial. A new wave of protests in Minsk and other cities on Sunday saw police use teargas to break up a protest in Minsk in which demonstrators clapped over an Independence Day speech by President Alexander Lukashenko, repeating recent midweek protests organized on social networking websites.