Belarus Lukashenko: Dozens arrested in mass protests in Belarus

Belarusian police arrested at least 100 people in the capital, Minsk, and other cities, as protests against President Alexander Lukashenko raged for the fourth weekend in a row.

In Minsk, they attacked protesters near the presidential palace, firing pepper spray and wielding batons.

Tens of thousands of people defied security measures and demonstrated in the city.

They want the longtime president to resign after his re-election last month amid accusations of vote rigging.

Massive riots since then have killed at least four people and injured hundreds as the government tries to crack down on dissent.

Several opposition figures have fled the country. On Saturday, activist Olga Kovalkova became the last to say she had taken refuge in neighboring Poland amid threats of prison.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has accused Western nations of interfering.

Protesters, human rights activists and observers say riot police are brutally cracking down on peaceful marches in the former Soviet republic.

After the non-governmental organization Viasna reported 130 arrests on Sunday, the Belarusian Interior Ministry confirmed to the Russian news agency Interfax at least 100 arrests across the republic.

Eyewitnesses told Interfax that police began making arrests in Minsk after the unauthorized demonstration ended and people were going home. Video footage from Sunday shows men in plain clothes beating peaceful protesters with batons.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Yuri Karayev, defended the actions of the security forces.

“They talk about the brutality of the Belarusian police, and I mean this: there are no more humane, restrained and serene policemen anywhere in the world,” he was quoted as saying by the official Belta news agency.

Sunday has become the key day for street demonstrations since the rallies began.

In recent days, security forces, all dressed in black and with face masks, attacked college students returning from vacation, dragging unmarked minivans onto some of the streets and college buildings.

A protester in Minsk, who gave her name as Lyudmila, previously told the BBC that security forces were unfazed by the protesters.

“We are definitely not ready to go back to the life we ​​had for many years,” he said.

“We finally feel like we matter because we’ve been living in apathy for too long and now we just have this feeling of solidarity and we really think that, well, I personally feel like the changes are already happening, so it’s definitely not the time to give up.” .

Protests have also been reported in other Belarusian cities and towns, such as Grodno, Mogilev and Gomel.

By Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Minsk

Sunday’s rally had several phases. The first was the tense and uncertain. The security forces had used barbed wire to close off obvious assembly points, the main monuments and squares in Minsk, and were standing guard behind them. Aspiring protesters stood uneasily on street corners wondering where and when the march would begin.

Those in small groups were vulnerable and we saw how a man holding the opposition’s prohibited red and white flag was dragged into a car by security officers and taken away. Then, as the numbers increased, there were tense clashes near the Plaza de la Independencia. As their confidence grew, the protesters moved closer, berating riot police at the barricades that now blocked the road.

At approximately 4:00 p.m., the crowd increased exponentially as people marched outside the center. They were no longer the brave ones who arrived early, they were the Belarusians, young and old. Some wore costumes, others wore clothing that directly poked fun at the riot police, the Omon.

There were families, children, dogs, someone even brought a goose. For the fourth Sunday in a row, President Lukashenko’s attempts to stop the protest against him failed.

The activist said that she had gone to Poland because she would have faced a long prison sentence if she had not agreed to leave Belarus.

Ms. Kovalkova said that security forces took her to a border post where she was able to board a bus to Poland after the driver recognized her.

A spokesman for Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country will offer support to the victims of the repression in Belarus.

Ms. Tikhanovskaya, 37, represented the main opposition to Lukashenko in the elections, entering the presidential race after her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, and another candidate were jailed.

He said the opposition demanded an end to police violence, the immediate release of all political prisoners and free and fair elections.

UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus, Anais Marin, said that Lukashenko’s re-election as president was “completely rigged” and that “the votes of the people were stolen.”

He accused the Belarusian police of torture and cited as an example a 16-year-old boy who was “so beaten that he was left in a coma.”

“The authorities must release all those arbitrarily detained,” he said. “The government is waging a mad war against its own people.”

Lukashenko has denied the allegations of vote rigging. He has blamed some EU nations, notably Poland and Lithuania, for trying to force regime change.

The 66-year-old has vowed to defend Belarus.

On Thursday, he indicated that he was willing to reach out to Russia, saying the protests “led us to draw relevant conclusions.”

On at least two occasions he has been photographed near his residence in Minsk with a weapon and surrounded by his heavily armed security personnel.