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For the fifteenth time in a row, thousands of people are protesting against the ruler Lukashenko in Belarus. In Minsk, the police used stun grenades. According to human rights activists, there have been more than 200 arrests.
Despite police violence, thousands of people peacefully protested against the ruler Alexander Lukashenko for the 15th time in a row in a Sunday rally in Belarus. In the capital Minsk, people first gathered in their residential areas and then formed protest marches with the historic white, red and white flags.
Numerous arrests
The police began making arrests at the beginning of the unauthorized meetings. Videos were distributed on online services showing police officers beating protesters.
The Wesna Center for Human Rights released the names of more than 200 people arrested that afternoon. There were about 1,000 arrests in each of the last two Sundays. Also in other cities, people again called for Lukashenko’s resignation.
Large police force
The power apparatus attracted hundreds of uniformed men from the Interior Ministry and the army in Minsk. The prisoners’ trucks, water cannons, and other heavy equipment were ready.
The large squares of the capital were cordoned off with metal fences, as shown in images from the Telegram news channel. Numerous metro stations have been closed to prevent crowds from gathering; the authorities also strangled the cell phone network.
“March against fascism”
Officially, the action of the protesters was announced this time as a “march against fascism”. The organizers responded to Lukashenko’s latest insults that they were fascists.
Opposition politician Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who lives in exile in Lithuania, addressed the protest movement on the Telegram online service on Saturday night, describing Sunday’s rally as one more step on the road to a “free and just Belarus. “. “You cannot turn a country into a prison if no one is afraid of the prison guards,” he wrote.
Tichanovskaya also wants the units of the Interior Ministry, including the OMON special police, to be declared “terrorist organizations” internationally. The initiative has been launched, he said after meeting with EU politicians. Criminal trials for crimes against humanity will also be prepared.
Protests for more than three months
Since the presidential elections on August 9, which were overshadowed by massive accusations of fraud, there have been massive protests in Belarus. At the height of the protests, more than 100,000 people took to the streets in Minsk on Sundays. Recently, the number of participants has decreased.
Security forces use force against peaceful protesters. At least four people died in the protests. More recently, the death of artist and activist Roman Bondarenko after his arrest caused a stir. Thousands of protesters have been arrested or detained since August. Many of them reported abuse and torture after their release.
