The authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko protest against gender lekjha ians had a military p ve arrested and protests have killed thousands of Belarusian children’s art teacher in police custody.
Roman Bondarenko, a 31-year-old artist, was ousted by several men believed to be plainclothes police officers in Minsk’s courtyard on Wednesday in a ribbon controversy in support of anti-government protests.
Bondarenko, who hit his head on the ground during the attack, was detained and taken in a van, which disappeared into police custody. He was in a coma at a city hospital when his family finally located him, where he died Thursday from brain damage.
The government has washed its hands of the incident, saying Bondarenko’s injuries stemmed from a street fight between the government and opposition supporters.
His family is convinced he was killed in custody after his arrest, a relative said. “Everything that happened to him happened after the square.”
“I am filming this video so that more people know what is going on in this country, that people are absolutely incapable,” Olga Kuchurenko, a relative, said in a video posted by Radio Swaboda.
Belarus has been rocked by the largest protests in its history, with Lukashenko claiming victory in the by-elections by widespread voter fraud.
The death is the latest shock suffered by Belarus’s protest movement, which has beaten and tortured thousands at police stations, imprisoned political opponents and forced them to flee the country, and, more recently, donated donations to victims captured by the government.
Protests were held on Thursday and Friday, with thousands of people taking to the streets on Thursday evening, with flowers and lanterns in Bonderenko’s memory. “Tribunal!” The people cried out for justice.
Former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, now living outside Belarus, wrote in a telegram: “Roman Bondarenko was assassinated by allies of the regime. He was an innocent victim of an inhuman system that considered the lives of the people to be a waste of energy. We all understand that any peaceful person can end up in his place. “
European diplomats also expressed concern over Bonderenko’s death. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevius wrote that he was “shocked” by the “surprising satire, the cruelty of the regime.”
A spokesman for the European Union (EU) said in a statement that it was “disgraceful and shameful” that Belarusian authorities had not only directly and violently repressed its own population, but also created an environment in which such legal, violent acts could take place. , Threatens to impose additional sanctions against the government.
Last week, the EU announced sanctions, including travel bans and property freezes, against Lukashenko, his son Victor and 13 other officials responsible for “violent repression and intimidation of peaceful protesters.”
The Belarussian parliament on Friday debated a new measure aimed at opposition supporters who could see it stripped of citizenship guilty of extremism or “harming the national interest”.
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