[ad_1]
For the fourth month in a row, Belarus has been plagued by massive protests over the August 9 presidential election, which Lukashenko has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and Western democracies view these elections as rigged.
Former soldier Roman Bondarenka, 31, was arrested on Wednesday after a dispute in the courtyard of an apartment building in Minsk, where opposition supporters regularly meet.
Witnesses said the conflict arose between protesters hanging red and white ribbons and formless militiamen trying to remove them.
Mr. Bondarenka was reported dead on Thursday. The news sparked a wave of outrage in an opposition camp, which according to lawyers Lukashenko’s security forces were to blame for the man’s death.
The Serious Crimes Investigation Commission issued a report stating that when police officers arrived at the scene, injuries were observed on the body of a 31-year-old Minsk resident and he was intoxicated with alcohol.
According to the report, the man was transferred to a militia unit and, when the condition worsened, he was transferred to a hospital, where tests confirmed that he had consumed alcohol.
The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told an independent news portal tut.by on Friday that the doctors had not detected alcohol in Bondarenko’s blood.
“We really didn’t find anything,” he said.
A minute of silence
On Thursday night, large crowds with candles and flowers gathered in the courtyard of Bondarenko’s memorial apartment, which the opposition called “Plaza del Cambio” or “Patio del Cambio,” when in August residents of the surrounding houses prevented militiamen paint anti-government slogans on the walls of houses.
Opposition leader Sviatlana Cichanouskaja, who currently lives in Lithuania, called on Belarusians to pay a minute of silence on Saturday noon “in all districts of each city” to honor the memory of R. Bondarenko.
“Let’s do it for a man who was killed because he wanted to live in a free country,” he said.
The militia detained thousands of protesters during the three-month protest, who later said they had suffered violence and torture by officials. Several people died in the repression of the protests.
The European Union, for its part, condemned Bondarenko’s death on Friday and warned that it could impose more sanctions on Belarus.
“This is an inhuman and shameful result of the actions of Belarusian officials,” said Peter Stano, spokesman for the EU diplomat Josep Borrell.
“This is an inhuman and shameful result of the actions of the Belarusian authorities,” European Chancellor Stano said of the man’s death.
“The European Union has already imposed sanctions on 55 people responsible for the offensive and repression, and is ready to impose additional sanctions,” Stan said in a statement.
In Belarus, several protesters have died, hundreds have been injured and thousands have been detained since the protests began.
“Inhumane and shameful” actions
Brussels on Friday condemned Bandarenko’s death and warned it could further toughen sanctions on Minsk.
“This is an inhumane and shameful result of the actions of Belarusian officials,” said Peter Stan, spokesman for EU diplomat Josep Borrell.
An EU statement said that the Belarusian government was directly responsible for the violence against the country’s population and for creating an environment in which “illegal atrocities could take place.”
Last week, the bloc imposed sanctions on 15 Belarusian officials, including Lukashenko and his eldest son, Viktor, for their role in brutally cracking down on anti-government demonstrations.
Large crowds gathered Thursday to honor the memory of the deceased artist in what the opposition called the Plaza del Cambio. The action was organized after local residents resisted attempts by security forces to paint anti-government slogans written on the walls.
Hundreds of activists also quietly gathered at the site on Friday, carrying more flowers and candles at the Bandarenka temporary memorial.
In other parts of the capital, car drivers pressed beeps while holding up protest columns, and protesters pointed fingers at victory signs.
Similar actions are reported to have taken place in other parts of the country.
A Belarusian investigation committee on serious crimes said on Friday that the militia, which arrived in the square on Wednesday, found a 31-year-old Minsk resident who had suffered “bodily injuries and signs of intoxication.
The committee added that the man had been transferred to a militia barracks and then, to his detriment, to a hospital, where it was confirmed that alcohol had been found on his body.
However, a doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Belarusian independent news portal Tut.by on Friday that doctors had not found any trace of alcohol on R. Bandarenko’s body.
“We didn’t find anything at all,” said the doctor.
So far, the country’s militia has detained hundreds of protesters who later denounced torture and violence in prisons. These stories led the international community to condemn the actions of the Belarusian government and western states to impose sanctions on Minsk.
The campaign to repress the protests also claimed the lives of several people.
[ad_2]
