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Many women have worn white as they protest against the disputed election result and police violence
Women have formed human chains in Belarus to condemn the collapse of protests over the disputed election.
Many dressed in white and wore flowers as they put an end to police brutality.
Unrest erupted across the country after longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of Sunday’s presidential election, rigging accusations of voting.
Thousands of people have been arrested and at least two have died.
In the latest official figures, the Interior Ministry said police had arrested 700 people on Wednesday during protests, bringing the total number to 6,700.
Some detainees were released Thursday. Tired relatives have gathered outside a prison north of the capital Minsk, hoping to reunite with their loved ones or for information on their whereabouts.
During a fifth day of protests, hundreds of women formed “solidarity chains” in Minsk. Participants told reporters they wanted a peaceful resolution because they demanded the release of all arrested Protestants.
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It was the second day in a row that women in Minsk organized such an action. Similar scenes were also reported elsewhere in the country.
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Video footage shared on social media showed opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova attacking the female Protestants in Minsk, with a bunch of flowers.
She was one of three women who gathered their resources to spare the opposition. The other two have left the country.
Veronika Tsepkalo fled to Belarus on polling day, while the main opposition candidate in the elections, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, was arrested on Monday shortly before fleeing to Lithuania.
An associate said Ms Tikhanovskaya from the country was accompanied by the authorities as part of a deal to allow the release of her campaign manager, who was arrested on the eve of the election.
Ms Tikhanovskaya, 37, released a video saying she made the “very difficult decision” to leave because of her children.
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The opposition candidate was mothered as a stay-at-home mom until she entered the race after her husband was arrested and blocked from registering for the vote.
She became Mr Lukashenko’s most expensive opposition challenge in years, leading to major rallies in the run – up to the vote.
But Mr Lukashenko rejected her offer, saying that a Belarusian woman could not lead.
“Our constitution is not for women,” he said earlier this year. “Our society is not mature enough to vote for a woman. This is because the president exercises a lot of power through the constitution.”
Mr Lukashenko, 65, has ruled the former Soviet Union since 1994. He described opposition groups as “sheep” controlled from abroad.
As protests continued on Thursday, some workers organized strikes.
The Russian internet giant Yandex said armed men had entered their offices in Minsk and detained employees because of the abandonment. The company said it was trying to get more information about the incident.
Shock at police brutality as witnesses mount
By Olga Ivshina, BBC Russian
The body of evidence of police brutality, both in the streets and in prisons, is on appeal. Detainees include not only opposition activists but also many journalists and casual passers-by.
One of the released journalists, Nikita Telizhenko of the Russian news website Znak.com, published a harrowing of three days in prison. Now back in Russia, he describes people lying on the floor of a detention center, stacked on top of each other, in a pool of blood and excrement. Do not allow to use the toilet for hours on end or even change position.
He says he saw people injured, with broken limbs and severe bruises, not only without medical help, but more being kicked and beaten by the guards.
Telizhenko’s testimony is confirmed by countless posts on social media – photos, videos, stories. I spoke to an American woman who visited her Belarusian friend in Minsk – he was detained for no apparent reason. Not only had he not protested, but he was sleeping in bed when the police came to his apartment, put the door down and took him away.
What else happened?
Election officials said Mr Lukashenko won 80% of the vote on Sunday, but protests erupted amid widespread allegations of vote rigging. The result was condemned by the European Union as “neither free nor fair”.
Hundreds of people have been injured in a police protest rally, some seriously. A BBC crew was attacked by police on Tuesday night.
Officials have confirmed the deaths of two people.
One demonstrator died during a protest rally in the Minsk capital on Monday. The Belarussian Interior Ministry has claimed an explosive device in his hand.
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A 25-year-old man also died on Wednesday in the southeastern city of Gomel. The Belarussian Investigation Commission said he was arrested and sentenced to 10 days in prison for participating in an illegal protest, but died after being taken to hospital because he did not feel well.
The protester’s mother told Radio Free Europe that her son had no part in the protests and was arrested because he wanted to see his girlfriend. She said he had heart problems and was kept in a police order bus for hours.
People shouted the words “going out” from their balconies, the same slogan used by Protestants on the ground. Police responded by firing rubber bullets.
The United Nations has condemned the use of force by authorities.
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Video footage shared on social media showed officers of special forces throwing their uniforms in buckets in disgust over the actions of their former colleagues.
“I was proud of the unity I served [in]. Now I’m ashamed. Shame on anyone who follows such orders, “said one former officer.
Staff at some factories and academic institutes went on strike, demanding an end to the violence and asking Ms Tikhanovskaya to be recognized as the winner.
Others who did not go on strike held meetings with their managers to express their anger over the election result and police crashes.
‘People here are angry’
By Tatsiana Melnichuk, BBC Russian, Minsk
The protests are unusual in their scale as people in dozens of towns, cities and even villages rise up and call on the main opposition figure, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, to be recognized as the winner of Sunday’s presidential election.
I watched as young men and women walked past my windows for safety, took a break from the collisions and then came back to the police.
My female neighbors try to stop their sons and husbands from participating in the nightly protests, worrying about their safety.
Some 7,000 people have been arrested and you do not have to protest to be arrested. My friend’s son, a university lecturer, was randomly detained before the election and spent three days in a cell.
The Interior Ministry stressed that its measures were “adequate” and pointed out that more than 100 police officers had been injured and 28 treated in hospital. There have been deliberate attempts by drivers to overtake traffic police and “legislators have used weapons” to stop them, it states.
People here are angry: with police, authorities and above all President Alexander Lukashenko. No one I’ve talked to has any support for what police do.
Elections in Belarus: Shocked by violence, people lose their fear
