Belarussian authorities detained Boris Nemtsov, Irina Khakamada, intending to deport them

Belarussian authorities have detained deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma Irina Khakamada and leader of the SPS (the Union of Right Forces) faction in the parliament's lower chamber Boris Nemtsov who arrived in Minsk to take part in an international conference, SPS press secretary Elena Dikun informed RIA Novosti on the phone from Minsk.

Immediately after the Russian delegation's arrival "two frontier guards and two policemen separated Nemtsov and Khakamada from the Russian delegation and took them in an unknown direction," she reported.

Later Nemtsov got in touch with the delegation members on the mobile phone and told them he and Khakamada were in Minsk-1 airport, Dikun said. "Belarussian authorities intend to deport them from the country," she said quoting Nemtsov.

The SPS press secretary did not name the reason for the detention. According to her, Nemtsov called "the arrest of the State Duma's deputy speaker and the leader of the SPS faction unprecedented".