MINSK – Huge crowds of Protestants stormed the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on Sunday in the largest political demonstration in the country’s history, demanding the resignation of its authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko.
Protesters in the capital were rumored to number well over 100,000.
Thousands more protested in cities and towns in Belarus, building on the movement that has grown since last weekend’s disputed elections and posing a colossal challenge to Lukashenko, known as “Europe’s last dictator”, who former Soviet Union has ruled for 26 years.
In Minsk, large processions of people march, cheering and carrying red and white flags, on a monument known as the Stele, which only last week police kept their violence to reach – part of the brutal collapse that killed thousands detained and has seen hundreds injured.
On Sunday, police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. The only police in sight were a handful of traffic officers struggling to direct traffic amid the cheering crowds and as drivers hung out and passengers hung out their windows.
Protesters shouted, “Leave, leave,” demanding that Lukashenko be fired and that new elections be held.
The protests began last Sunday after a presidential election that gave Lukashenko over 80% of the vote and opposition opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya just 10% amid accusations of widespread vote rigging. The protests that began with several thousand have been growing all week, despite the outbreak of security forces.
Protesters themselves appeared surprised by the scenes. One woman with a banner stunned the audience and told ABC News it was ‘a miracle’.
“We have never seen such a thing in Belarus,” said Helena Shchliakova, a 27-year-old fashion designer, as she researched the scene.
Earlier Sunday, Lukashenko launched his own counterattack on the city’s central Independence Square, with thousands of people being taken by bus from around Belarus. ABC News drove for dozens of buses along both sides of several streets for more than a mile.
Lukashenko even appeared at the government rally, telling the crowd that “we will not give up the country.” He dismissed the idea of new elections, saying, “If we go into that swamp, we will never get out.”
Speakers at the rally said it was Protestants and not the security forces of Lukashenko who used extreme violence and wounded hundreds.
“For three days we have seen the country in blood; for three days we have been afraid to let our children take to the streets,” a nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) official told the crowd.
“Will there be revolution?” he asked.
“No,” replied the crowd.
Yuri Karayev of Belarus, Yuri Karayev, told a Belarusian camera crew that peaceful protesters were being used as pawns and that police were needed to keep protests safe.
But last week’s videos appeared to show Karaev’s Interior Ministry troops using uncritical force against peaceful protesters, firing rubber bullets and stun grenades and beating people hard.
Many protesters said they thought the protests had increased because of anger provoked by that collapse, especially the accounts that emerged from brutal treatment and torture of people held during the protests last week.
Police were said to have detailed 7,000 people over three days, and dozens of those released in the past two days have provided accounts of ritual abuse and people stripped naked and kept without food for days. Medics at a first-aid trial set up by Protestants outside one of the prisons told ABC News they had treated men who had been raped with truncheons.
Protestants on Sunday greeted the masses as a pivotal moment that could give no sign of turning back.
Maria Kolesnikova, who has become one of the three female leaders at the head of the opposition, appeared during the protest and called on the security services and government workers to come to the side of the protesters.
“Overcome your fears as we have overcome them,” said Kolesnikova, the former campaign manager of a Finnish opposition candidate.
Opposition to Lukashenko united behind Tikhanovskaya’s candidacy, which ran on a platform to hold new elections and free political prisoners. Tikhanovskaya, who is in Lithuania, where she was forced to flee this week, has called on authorities to start negotiating a transfer of power so that new elections can be held.
It was unclear what Lukashenko would do next. At the Rally, he again suggested that he would use force to disperse the crowds, but the large scale of the protests means it is unclear whether the security forces and military remain loyal enough to do so.
There is also great uncertainty about how Russia will react to the unusual protests on its border. Lukashenko has long been an ally of the Kremlin and on Saturday claimed that President Vladimir Putin had offered to send help as requested, after the two had a telephone conversation.
There are protests against Russia still being able to intervene, potentially even militarily, to rescue Lukashenko in exchange for giving him up to Moscow’s years of demands for greater integration of the two countries.
“We know that the regime is ready to do anything just to stay in power,” Kolsenikova told the club. “The sovereignty in Belarus is not for trade or discussion. To protect their country from a murderous attempt at its independence, Belarusians will fight as bravely as they do now with the violence of this government,” she said.
Thousands of Protestants marched triumphantly around the center of Minsk until Sunday evening. A group of protesters relaxed on the steps in front of the parliament where Lukashenko had spoken, an area normally off-limits to people, and the scene where thousands of protesters were widely dispersed after another controversial election in 2010.
“This is the first time we can sit here and feel free,” said Anastasia Ryabova, a 24-year-old. “It’s the first time in 26 years.”
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