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Belarus, with 9.5 million. population, historic protests against Lukashenko’s regime have subsided since the presidential elections on August 9, when authorities officially announced that the longtime leader had defeated the popular opposition candidate, 38-year-old Sviatlan Cichanouskaya.
With the expansion of the protest movement, there have been large-scale demonstrations for the past two months. Approximately 100,000 people took to the streets every Sunday. or more people.
A new march in the capital Minsk is planned for S. Chichanouskaya, who has been granted asylum in Lithuania, after announcing that A. Lukashenko must resign from power before October 25. An opposition leader warned that a devastating general strike would otherwise be launched.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Sviatlana Cichanouskaya
Cichanouskaya, who sees herself as the real winner of the August elections, also said that Lukashenko must free political prisoners and stop “state terror” against peaceful protesters.
Thousands of people have been arrested in Belarus during this wave of unrest, several have been killed in militia clashes with protesters, and there have been reports of horrific human rights abuses in prisons and detention centers. Many detainees said officials tortured, beat and humiliated them.
VIDEO: Detainees in Belarus spoke of incomprehensible cruelty: “You could hear people being beaten outside all night.”
The militia admitted to using water cannons and incendiary grenades against protesters, but the use of combat ammunition would mark a major escalation in a clash between opposition protesters and the Lukashenko regime that lasted more than two months.
Earlier this week, militia officials claimed that the protests were slowing down but becoming more radical, and warned that law enforcement would use lethal weapons “if necessary.”
“Partisan march”
Mikhail Karpiankov, a senior Interior Ministry official, said on Friday that the combat ammunition would be used “humanely” and selectively against opposition protesters.
Before the march scheduled for Sunday, Ivan Tertel, head of the State Security Committee (KGB), warned that preparations were being made to counter the provocations that were planned to “destabilize the situation in our country.”
He did not name any implicit conspirators, but said the organizers and “their overseas supervisors” planned to blame the Belarusian police for the “grave consequences” of the provocations.
Photo by Scanpix / Protester in Belarus
In an interview with AFP, Lukashenko critic Dzmitry Malec called the latest threats to shoot protesters a new intimidation tactic, adding that the militia had previously used firearms against protesters.
“But they hadn’t warned before shooting,” said the 33-year-old activist.
Aliaksejus Antonov, who often participates in opposition demonstrations, said that his friends and acquaintances support S.Cichanouskaya’s call for a general strike.
“They are discussing this and many are willing to contribute,” he told AFP.
The opposition channel Nexta Live has been installed on the Telegram correspondence platform, is used to coordinate protests and has more than 2 million. Followers indicated that the action scheduled for Sunday will be called “Partisan March.”
In a Nexta report, Lukashenko equates himself with an occupier, and Belarusian protesters equate himself with “partisans.” During World War II, Belarus, occupied by Nazi German forces, had the largest partisan movement in Europe.
Lukashenko, who has led the country for 26 years, has refused to resign and has secured the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Monday, European Union foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions on Lukashenko, the Commonwealth, in order to increase pressure on the Minsk regime to deal with the protesters.
Diplomats said Lukashenko would be added to the list of Belarusian officials subject to EU sanctions. There are already 40 names on this list.
Several hundred people protested in Minsk on Saturday and several dozen were detained, the human rights group Viasna said.
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