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Anti-government protests have been going on in Belarus for some time. Opposition activist Sergei Tykhanovsky was arrested during one of them and is still behind bars.
Despite the coronavirus crisis, the presidential elections will take place in Belarus on August 9. Lukashenko has ruled the country with force for 26 years. Critics, including blogger S. Tichanovsky, call him the last dictator in Europe. Election observers say there is no free electoral campaign in the country and that civil rights activists are being intimidated.
Tichanovsky, 41, and seven other comrades were charged with “serious violation of public order” during a protest in late May. At least two officials were injured, the Investigation Committee said.
The EU demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Tichanovsky and other activists on Tuesday. The charges against them must be dropped, a spokesman for the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Brussels.
The EU also called on Minsk leaders to facilitate free and democratic elections. The further development of relations between the EU states and Belarus will depend on the course of the elections, the representative warned.
Lukashenko emphasized that the ongoing protests were part of a “well-organized scenario”. People with a lot of money are said to be involved.
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