A court in Minsk has placed a man in custody for three days for publicly wearing a T-shirt that carried a message calling for Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to step down.

Yury Rubtsov, 52, donned a T-shirt saying "Lukashenko, go away" at a rally commemorating the victims of political repression in Minsk on Sunday, BBC reported.

On the back of the t-shirt was written: "Fourth time president — no! It's not a president, but a tsar-usurpe.r

Rubtsov was detained for refusing to comply with police demands to take off the T-shirt. Later the Sovetsky District Court formally charged him with disobeying police orders and placed him under arrest.

Rubtsov showed up in court wearing the same T-shirt that had caused all of the trouble. Lukashenko once said he would go away when people ask him to, Rubtsov said.

"That's what I'm doing," he added.