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Thousands of women demonstrated again against the controversial head of state Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus. They walked through the capital Minsk on Saturday and waved white, red and white flags, as can be seen in pictures on social media. Many carried flowers with them.
The opposition called for the so-called “Women’s March.” Also in other cities of the former Soviet republic, many women protested on Saturday.
In the morning there were mainly students from the city who had gathered for a “solidarity campaign”. There were also arrests again. The exact numbers were not initially known. Videos were shown of uniformed men brutally dragging some students who were peacefully demonstrating in minibuses. The police also took dozens of people the day before.
About half of those arrested would face a penalty, the Interior Ministry said. At the beginning of the protests, the security forces detained almost 7,000 people. After that, they largely held back.
According to the human rights organization Wesna, security forces brutally arrested protesters at a university. Some students sang peacefully in front of the schools and demanded the release of political prisoners. Therefore, the Ministry of Education announced that it would increase controls in universities.
Tichanovskaya at the head of the democratic movement
The leader of the democratic movement is activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya. The 37-year-old ran against Lukashenko in the presidential elections on August 9, but after 26 years in power, he claimed victory with 80 percent of the vote. Since then, there have been new protests every day for almost four weeks.
Tichanovskaya, who emigrated to the EU country Lithuania under pressure from the authorities after the elections, wanted to meet opposition member Pavel Latuschko in Vilnius on Saturday. Latuschko is a member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council, which seeks a peaceful change of power.
Meanwhile, despite the ban on demonstrations in the country, the opposition has planned new massive protests against Lukashenko. People should gather for the “March of Unity” on Sunday starting at 1:00 pm CEST at the Independence Square in the capital Minsk, he said at the convocation under the slogan “One for all, all for one” .
Similar campaigns are also planned in other cities. Hundreds of thousands of participants had joined the Sunday rallies in recent weeks.
Germany threatens tougher sanctions
In view of the power struggle in Belarus, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas threatened to toughen punitive measures against Lukashenko. “We as the European Union do not recognize the elections and we have decided on sanctions. Now we are implementing them. If Lukashenko does not react, there will be more sanctions,” Maas told “Bild am Sonntag”.
At the same time, Maas made clear what he expects from the leadership in Minsk: “I ask Lukashenko to negotiate with the opposition, to repeat the elections, to immediately stop imprisoning and ill-treating peaceful protesters, to respect the rights of Lukashenko. human rights and respect the freedom of the press. ” (dpa / kle)
