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On Sunday a lot happened again on the streets of Minsk. Image: keystone
Belarus is furious: 100,000 protesters, 210 arrested and one dead in prison
Belarusians are not giving up: 100,000 took to the streets again, despite brutal police action. Meanwhile, a mysterious death occurred in a prison.
More than 100,000 people protested in a large protest march in Belarus for “freedom” and against the ruler Alexander Lukashenko. “The whole world sees: Belarusians want to live in freedom and not in a prison,” Svetlana Tichanovskaya, 38, said on Sunday, in anticipation of the new major protests in her homeland.
The civil rights activist, considered by the democratic movement in Belarus as the winner of the presidential elections on August 9, is also scheduled in Berlin on Tuesday. There he meets Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Swetlana Tichanowskaja. Image: keystone
The influx of intrepid people at the largest and longest protests in the country’s history is uninterrupted, the opposition in Minsk said. Lukashenko’s power apparatus once again used the army and various armored vehicles to deter the people. The independent news portal “tut.by” reported on the prisoner transports and blocked the central squares of the city. The lineup at the presidential palace was particularly large.
The subway stations were blocked. Mobile internet did not work. However, crowds gathered from different directions in the city for a protest march. Many waved the historic white, red and white flag, the colors of the revolution.
Not too old a person: a protester armed with a bouquet of flowers. Image: keystone
Brutal action again
Water cannons were also used in Minsk, authorities confirmed. Uniformed men wearing ski masks and without identification markings again brutalized peaceful protesters in the unauthorized demonstration. Even at the beginning of the traditional evening demonstration, there were numerous arrests, including journalists. The Wesna Center for Human Rights spoke of more than 210 arrests in the late afternoon.
For the first time, independent reporting on the protests was nearly impossible because the Foreign Ministry withdrew their work permits from all foreign correspondents on Friday. That was one of several reactions to the EU sanctions against Lukashenko’s supporters. Around 40 officials in the country are affected by travel and account bans. The United States had also punished several Lukashenko supporters.
The police again cracked down on the protesters. Image: keystone
The EU’s foreign representative, Josep Borrell, harshly criticized the government’s actions. “The EU continues to support the democratic right of the Belarusian people to elect their president through new free and fair elections,” he said in Brussels on Sunday. Tichanovskaya, who has already met with Borrell, calls for Lukashenko’s resignation and new rapid elections for the presidency.
This time the protest was mainly dedicated to the country’s political prisoners. People called for the release of the detainees. There were also actions in other cities of the country. Tichanovskaya, in particular, calls for mass protests over her exile in the EU country, Lithuania. She complained on Sunday that there was another “victim of the regime”, Lukashenko.
Man dies in prison
Authorities confirmed that a 41-year-old man died in prison. According to official information, he fell from a bunk and suffered fatal injuries. On the other hand, Tichanovskaya accused the authorities of “lying”. Doctors found a cracked skull with an open skull fracture, broken ribs and bruises, and other injuries to the man’s body, he said.
The incident took place in the famous Okrestin Street prison in Minsk. There, eyewitnesses had recently reported massive beatings and other serious ill-treatment of prisoners.
Since the controversial presidential elections in early August, Belarus has experienced the largest protests in the history of the former Soviet republic. Lukashenko obtained 80.1 percent of the votes in the elections. After 26 years in power, he was sworn in for the sixth time in a row. The EU no longer recognizes the 66-year-old president. Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, congratulated Lukashenko on his victory and assured him of his support. Human rights activists accuse Lukashenko’s power apparatus of crimes against humanity. There have already been several deaths, hundreds of injuries and more than 10,000 arrests. (sda / dpa)
