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At least six armored carriers headed for the State Flag Square. Next to this square is the Independence Palace, which houses the residence of the President of Belarus, Aliaksandr Lukashenko.
The column also housed military trucks, barbed wire trucks, and an ambulance.
Arrests of journalists in the wake of Minsk. Https://t.co/tnnCN9nW3r
Video: tut, by pic.twitter.com/4WC8xevW6L
– Novaya Gazeta (@novaya_gazeta) October 11, 2020
Belarus has been organizing massive protests against the results of the presidential elections on August 9 for more than two months. The current president, Lukashenko, who has held office since 1994, was officially declared the winner of the elections.
The opposition’s demands include new elections and constitutional reform.
© Stopkadras
On August 18, the opposition, which did not recognize the results of the vote, created a Coordination Council with the aim of handing over power in the run-up to new elections.
Minsk considers the council unconstitutional and several of its members have been detained on suspicion of threatening national security.
Several people were arrested in Minsk during a protest on Sunday, said Natalia Hanusevich, a spokeswoman for the Interior Board of the Minsk City Executive Committee.
“Several people are currently detained and taken to various territorial units for further investigation,” he said.
At the time, witnesses to the news said law enforcement officers were harshly detaining protesters and clashes were reported.
According to their story, officials used pepper spray and protesters threw bottles and pots at them.
About 50 people were arrested during these clashes.
According to witnesses, the clashes between militias and opposition supporters took place near the stele “Minsk: a hero of the city”.
Several people were injured in civilian clothes, some received first aid from law enforcement officers and doctors.
Journalists were detained in the center of Minsk
Law enforcement officers in central Minsk began arresting journalists on Sunday ahead of an unauthorized opposition “pride march”.
Witnesses told the Interfax news agency that an OMON bus from the militia special forces arrived near the Galerija shopping center to prepare journalists for the opposition campaign.
The OMON members who approached the journalists began to take them to the bus without any speech.
About 10 Belarusian and Russian journalists were arrested, including correspondents for the TASS, BelaPAN and BelTA news agencies.
The Ministry of the Interior, in turn, confirmed the fact of the arrest.
Natalia Hanusevich, spokeswoman for the main board of the Interior Committee of the Minsk City Executive Committee, said journalists were brought to the district interior department to verify the documents.
Strong dispersal and beatings of protesters in the center of Minsk, where today the Pride March takes place on Sunday https://t.co/tnnCN9nW3r
Video: online pic.twitter.com/uGXoP8CjPw
– Novaya Gazeta (@novaya_gazeta) October 11, 2020
More than 20 journalists were arrested, the country’s journalists’ association said on Sunday.
“Currently, 17 journalists have been detained in Minsk, four in Grodno and two in Vitebsk,” the Belarusian Association of Journalists told the Telegram correspondence platform.
According to Viasna, an unregistered police center in the country, those detained include Belarusian and Russian media workers, including state-owned workers.
Natalia Hanusevich, a spokeswoman for the Interior Steering Board of the Minsk City Executive Committee, told the Interfax news agency earlier that journalists detained in the capital had been taken to the district’s interior department to verify documents.
At that time, the tut.by portal reports that after reviewing the documents, some journalists were not released.
“It allowed us to go out to smoke, here we are, breathing fresh air. When asked how long we will be detained, an employee of the district’s interior department said: “We are waiting.” He did not explain the order or anything else, ”the detained journalists told the portal.
ADDITIONAL: Witnesses report sound of explosion and smoke in Minsk
In Minsk, next to the wake of the Minsk city hero, a sound similar to an explosion was heard on Sunday and then thick smoke spread, witnesses told Interfax news agency.
Other sources have not provided information on the matter and the force structures have not yet commented.
Meanwhile, the Viasna human rights center said that more than 120 people had already been detained across the country during opposition protests on Sunday, mainly in the capital Minsk. The detainees are also in Brest, Vitebsk, Mogiliave, Grodno.
A large proportion of those arrested are members of the media.
Belarus has been organizing massive protests against the results of the presidential elections on August 9 for more than two months. The current president, Lukashenko, who has held office since 1994, was officially declared the winner of the elections.
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