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The President of Belarus, Lukashenko, seems to have made the final decision to maintain his power by all means. Police can now shoot protesters with sharp weapons. As the chances of peaceful change diminish, so does pressure from outside.
The Belarusian Ministry of the Interior has authorized the police to also use firearms against protesters. The reason was a radicalization of the opposition movement against President Alexander Lukashenko, he said. In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging service, the Interior Ministry also announced that the security forces would not give way to protesters in the streets “and, if necessary, use special equipment and lethal weapons.”
Opposition representatives criticize the increasing harshness of the security authorities against peaceful protesters. Television footage showed police using water cannons and truncheons on Sunday to break up demonstrations calling for the election of a new president. Masked police officers in black balaclavas dragged the protesters into minibuses that were not marked as emergency vehicles. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the police officers also used stun grenades. On Sunday, they detained more than 700 people across the country, the Interior Ministry announced.
Due to the ongoing violence against protesters in Belarus, the EU foreign ministers launched sanctions against head of state Alexander Lukashenko. Sanctions were previously imposed on 40 people responsible. Among them are Interior Minister Juri Karaeu, members of the state electoral commission, the KGB secret service, and the Omon and SOBR special forces.
Since the controversial presidential elections on August 9, a broad protest movement in Belarus has called for Lukashenko’s resignation. The opposition accuses the head of state, who has been in power for 26 years, of electoral fraud.
