In a country where crimes of dissent are routine, police in Belarus and Protestants in the capital Minsk and the city of Brest clashed on Sunday night over growing dissatisfaction with the authoritarian rule of the country’s longtime leader, who ‘ t recently sought a sixth term.
Sunday’s vote in the ex-Soviet nation pitted President Alexander Lukashenko, who has had an iron grip on Belarus since 1994, against four others. The campaign generated the largest opposition protest of the year. Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections on Sunday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
Protesters walk away from police as they gather to protest the outcome of the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday, August 9, 2020. Police and protesters clash in Belarus and the capital City of Brest on Sunday after the presidential election in which the authoritarian leader who ruled for a quarter of a century sought a sixth term in office.
(AP)
The head of the Central Election Commission, Lidia Yermoshina, said earlier Monday that partial results from some regions showed Lukashenko having a crushing lead, receiving more than 90% of the vote in some districts.
Lukashenko himself was opposed because he had voted earlier on Sunday.
“If you provoke, you will get the same answer,” he said. “Do you want to try to get the government to throw, break, wound, insult and expect me or someone to kneel before you and kiss them and the sand you walked on? This will not happen. ”
WIT-RUS DETAINS 33 SUSPECTED RUSSIAN MERCENARIES CLAD IN ‘MILITARY-STYLE CLOTHING’
Police in riot gear storm a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. leader of the country sought a sixth term despite growing dissatisfaction with his authoritarian rule and his cavalier dismissal of the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP)
Belarusians have grown tired of the country’s disruptive economy, as well as the cavalier dismissal of the president of the coronavirus pandemic.
Presence of policemen in Minsk was heavy all day and in the evening police set up checkpoints on the perimeter of the city to check residence permits, apparently causing Protestants to come from other cities.
PUTIN CAN MOVE TO ABSORB WHITE REST, ‘THE LAST DICTATORSHIP’ from EUROPE, ‘SEE EXPERTS
Protesters shout “Go away!” as they gather after the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, August 9, 2020. Belarusian police and Protestants clashed Sunday night in the capital and the city of Brest following a presidential election in which the country’s longtime leader a sixth term sought despite growing dissatisfaction with its authoritarian rule and its cavalier dismissal of the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP)
Nearly 1,000 Protestants gather near the obelisk to honor Minsk as a ‘hero city’ of World War II, where police clashed with them, struck some with truncheons and later used flash-bang grenades to disperse them. . Protesters later tried to build barricades with garbage containers.
Protests also erupted in the key cities of Brest, Gomel, Grodno and Vitebsk, and police fired tear gas at protesters in Brest, news reports said.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
There was no official information on the number of arrests as people were injured, but Ales Bilyatsky of the human rights group Viasna told The Associated Press that he believed there were several hundred.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
