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- Thousands of women demonstrate in Belarus against the controversial president Alexander Lukashenko.
- The leader of the democratic movement is activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in the presidential elections. The opposition demands her resignation.
- The opposition calls for mass protests on Sunday.
The protesting women marched through the capital Minsk and waved white, red and white Belarusian flags. Many carried flowers with them. They called for the resignation of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
According to the human rights organization Viasna, around 5,000 women participated in the march. Police observed the march, but no arrests have been reported. Since the presidential elections on August 9, there have been new protests every day.
Thousands of women are protesting in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, against the re-election of President Lukashenko and calling for his resignation.
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The opposition has called for the “March of Unity” in the Independence Square in the capital Minsk for tomorrow Sunday afternoon. The motto is: “One for all, all for one.” Similar campaigns are also planned in other cities.
The leader of the democratic movement is activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya. The 37-year-old ran against Lukashenko in the presidential elections. But the controversial president claims victory with 80 percent of the vote after 26 years in power.
Svetlana Tichanovskaya, a candidate of the Belarusian opposition, casts her vote during the presidential elections.
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Tichanovskaya accuses Lukashenko of stealing the elections. She asked the UN to condemn the repression of the protesters. Furthermore, the UN should send an observation mission to Belarus and convene a special session of the Human Rights Council.
After the elections, Tichanovskaya had to leave Belarus under pressure from the authorities. You are now in the EU country Lithuania. In Vilnius, the capital, she wants to meet the prominent Belarusian opponent Pavel Latuschko.
Students also demonstrate
In the Belarusian capital, Minsk, many university students protested on Saturday morning. They demonstrated against the arrest of colleagues during the wave of protests.
Arrests were made again and, according to observers, the police were brutal. About 20 students were arrested, according to the human rights organization Viasna.
About half of those arrested would face a penalty, the Interior Ministry said. At the beginning of the protests, the security forces detained almost 7,000 people. After that, they largely held back.
