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The arrests were reported to protest groups in Belarus on Thursday in an attempt to inspire a movement that erupted last year but was put down by a serious crackdown on authoritarian President Aliaksandr Lukashenko.
“9 pm 30 minutes. (local, 8:30 pm Lithuanian time) Viasnai was known to have at least 118 detainees in 19 Belarusian cities. 68 of them have been detained in Minsk, “Viasna said in a statement on the Telegram platform.
Among those detained are journalists, reports the Belarusian Journalists Association (BJA).
“To stop actions in Minsk after enlightening the Russians [leidinio] “Kommersant journalist Kirill Krivosheev and Izvestia photographer Pavel Volkov,” BAJA said.
Earlier, Viasna announced that he had information about registrations and summons to interview the Investigation Committee in several Belarusian cities.
Special equipment is mobilized
Images released by local media showed small groups marching through Minsk waving a symbol of the Belarusian opposition: white, red and white flags, while official red and green flags were hoisted in state buildings.
Special equipment was mobilized in central Minsk on Thursday, reported a correspondent for the Interfax news agency.
Avenida Independencia is partially blocked and security buses, water cannons and vans to transport detainees are located next to the presidential administration building. No one is allowed into the officers’ house.
The Interior Ministry stressed that the situation in the country is calm and under control.
“All the actions of the militiamen are aimed at guaranteeing public order in the country. Given the destructive calls on Telegram channels, we are, of course, monitoring the situation. For the moment, it is calm and controlled,” said the representative of the Ministry of the Interior, Volha Čemadanova.
Earlier this week, authorities in the capital rejected a request from the opposition to allow demonstrations to mark Freedom Day.
The head of the State Security Committee (KGB) had previously announced planned attempts to destabilize the country during protests scheduled for March 25-27 and said the government would crack down on it.
On March 25, 1918, the independence of the Belarusian People’s Republic was declared. The date is not officially mentioned in Belarus, but the opposition celebrates it as Freedom Day, and events dedicated to it traditionally take place on the streets of Minsk.
The People’s Republic of Belarus was proclaimed in 1918 by a group of members of the national movement. As an independent state, the BLR existed from 1918 to 1919, and its government was later forced to emigrate. Historians are still debating whether the BLR can be called a state; some say it was just an attempt to create a state.
Invitations to new demos
The Belarusian opposition has called for new demonstrations on Thursday to bring winter to life and suppress government protests.
The Telegram channel of the NEXTA platform, mobilizing protesters and coordinating their actions during the six months of protests, urged drivers to sound the alarm on Thursday and invited people to fireworks at night.
Mass demonstrations in Belarus began in August last year after Lukashenko was declared the winner of a presidential election that the opposition and Western diplomats consider false. Since 1994, 10 million. Lukashenko, who ruled the country’s population with an iron fist, has been in office for six years.
Massive demonstrations against the president were held weekly and lasted for many months. During the peak, about 100,000 people participated. the people and the position of Mr. Lukashenko seemed to be weakening.
However, the protest movement was gradually suppressed by the massive detention of people. Hundreds of them allege that the detainees were tortured.
Several protesters died during the riots and more than 400 were sentenced to prison for violations of public order.
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday called on Belarus to end its crackdown on peaceful protesters and the human rights commissioner to investigate violations of the August 9 elections and the regime’s response to protests against government.
However, with the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko is firmly in his place and all of his main opponents are either jailed or have fled the country.
Earlier this year, during a meeting of officials loyal to him, Lukashenko said he had endured a “color revolution” driven by the West, given the uprisings in post-Soviet countries at the beginning of the century.
At that time, Belarusian courts began sentencing protesters, activists and journalists on a conveyor belt. They are sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for participating in mass events.
