MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Belarussian protester reportedly died in clashes with police after Sunday’s presidential election told Reuters he had survived a brutal police battle and was expected to be arrested shortly.
PHILO PHOTO: A law enforcement officer sends next to a man lying on the ground during clashes with opposition persecutors after polls were closed at the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, August 9, 2020. REUTERS / Vasily Fedosenko /
The shirtless body of Yevgeny Zaichkin, 35, could be seen in Reuters images of protests in Minsk lying on a grassy layer of ground next to a street with a rioting policeman in body armor standing over him and sending.
Belarussian opposition media outlet Nexta announced in the early hours of Monday that he had died according to preliminary information and that it was looking for more information.
On Monday, reaching for the phone, Zaichkin said he was taken to the hospital after playing handball and was discharged earlier in the day with concussion, four stings and bruises all over his body.
He said at least three or four insurgent police officers beat him over the head and his body with truncheons.
The Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs could not be immediately reached for comment.
Belarusian authorities deny that anyone was killed during the protests, but say dozens of officers and protesters were injured. Police arrested about 3,000 people, the ministry said.
The protests erupted after the opposition accused President Alexander Lukashenko of forcing elections to secure a landslide victory.
A representative of the Spring 96 legal group said on Monday that at least one person was killed during the protests after he was dragged by a police truck.
The identity and fate of that person could not be immediately confirmed by Reuters.
More protests were expected later on Monday.
Written by Tom Balmforth; Edited by Nick Macfie
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