Slovakian police arrested former prime minister Robert Fico in front of running TV cameras on Thursday evening.
The leader of the left-wing populist opposition party Direction – Slovak Social Democracy (SMER) had called for a protest against the government's coronavirus policies.
However, immediately before the start of the protest, police officers took the 57-year-old former long-term head of government away when he tried to start the protest with a statement to the media.
His party announced on Facebook that it would not be dissuaded from further protests.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a nationwide ban on assemblies has been in effect since November 25.
Fico told the TV news channel TA3 that the protest he called was not in violation of this because it was planned mainly in the form of a convoy of cars.
He said the police were being misused by the government, which was using the pandemic as a pretext to restrict freedom of expression.
"The whole of Slovakia should see on live TV how democracy is being destroyed," he said before getting into the police car that took him away to be questioned.
