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Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Minsk on Sunday, in Belarus, to protest third weekend in a row, against the reelection of the president Alexander Lukashenko despite the impressive deployment of law enforcement agencies, who made more than a hundred arrests.
The 66-year-old president, of whom he has spent 26 years in power, has faced daily protests since the controversial presidential elections of August 9, which claims to have won with 80% of votes, while his detractors denounce fraud.
An AFP journalist and Belarusian media calculated in more than 100,000 the number of protesters this Sunday, which equals the massive participation of the previous weekends.
On August 16 and 23, the opposition managed to gather almost 100,000 people in the streets of the capital Minsk despite pressure and threats from the authorities. They were the two largest demonstrations in the history of the country.
This Sunday despite the great deployment of the security forces, which prevented several processions of opponents from reaching the heart of the demonstration, the center of the Belarusian capital was black with people, in particular from the October Square to the Independence Square.
The protesters carried red and white opposition flags and chanted slogans such as “Lukashenko in cell van” or “Go away,” according to an AFP journalist.
They also concentrated in front of the Independence Palace, the official residence of the president, where numerous elite snipers were installed on the roof of the building.
An adviser to the president tried to speak to the protesters, although rejected any dialogue table with representatives of the opposition.
Lukashenko’s press service reported a picture of the president in a bulletproof vest and an assault rifle in hand, as he had already done last weekend.
The security forces detained 140 protesters, according to data from the Belarusian Interior Ministry cited by various Russian agencies.
The investigation committee announced that it is investigating about 150 protesters for “threats” and “hooliganism.”
However, the police did not resort to the use of tear gas, rubber bullets or dispersion grenades, as it had done during the first protests after the August 9 elections.
“I’m scared”
On Saturday, the Belarusian authorities, without giving explanations, they withdrew their accreditations from several journalists who work for foreign media, including AFP, AP, BBC and Radio Liberty. This decision was denounced by the newsrooms of these media, Germany, France and the United States.
For the main opposition figure, Svetlana Tijanóvskaya, exiled in Lithuania, this is “a new sign that the regime is in moral ruin and tries to cling to power only through the imposition of fear and intimidation.”
Germany, currently in charge of the rotating presidency of the European Union, indicated this Sunday that he will summon the Belarusian ambassador to Berlin because of this withdrawal of accreditations, which the German authorities described as “unacceptable”.
The election results were rejected by the EU, which is preparing a sanctions package against senior Belarusian government officials and urged Lukashenko to dialogue with the opposition.
The latter, for his part, refuses to make the slightest concession and denounces a Western plot to overthrow him.
So far he has had prudent support from his closest ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said he is willing to intervene in his neighbor’s territory if the protests degenerate, although he also urges the authorities and the opposition to dialogue.
Both spoke this Sunday by phone. Putin congratulated Lukashenko for his 66th birthday, promising “the strengthening of the Russian-Belarusian alliance and the development of cooperation in all areas,” according to a Kremlin statement.
The Europeans had urged Putin to pressure his Belarusian counterpart to start a dialogue with the “Coordination Council” created by the opposition to promote a peaceful transition of power in the country.
Lukashenko refused, denouncing an attempt to “seize power”. The opposition “council” faces trial for “attack on national security” and two of its members have received short prison terms.
Several members were summoned by the researchers, including the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Svetlana Alexievich.
More than 300 Belarusian athletes publicly requested the organization of new elections on Sunday.
The first demonstrations in Belarus after the August 9 elections were harshly repressed, causing three deaths and dozens of injuries and more than 7,000 people arrested, most of them released.
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