An administrative decision

Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Dobrowolski said on February 16 that the deportation of 10 Belarusians this week was an administrative decision that had no political motives, PAP reported. Dobrowolski was commenting on the Belarusian Foreign Ministry's note protesting the 13 February detention of 47 Belarusian citizens in Gizycko, northeastern Poland. Minsk said the Polish authorities arrested the Belarusians under the pretext of checking their documents and detained them for 12 hours at a police station. The Polish Border Guard says it released 37 Belarusians immediately after checking their documents and noted that 10 Belarusians as well as two Russians and two Lithuanians were deported for illegal trade.