Belarus Lukashenko: protesters defy strict security

Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, for a new protest against the president.

Riot police, backed by water cannons and barriers, sealed off parts of the city and several arrests were made, with reports of injuries.

Protesters seek the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko.

They accuse the authorities of manipulating his re-election just over a month ago, sparking a deadly massive unrest.

At least four people have died and hundreds have been injured since then, as the government tried 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.

Sunday has become the key day for street demonstrations since the rallies began, reports the BBC’s Jonah Fisher from Minsk.

But riot police have stepped up their efforts to intimidate and block the flow of people heading to the city center today, while detaining those taking part in the demonstrations, says our correspondent.

He adds that in recent days the security forces, all dressed in black with balaclava on their faces, attacked university students when they returned from their vacations, dragging minivans without badges to some of the streets and buildings of the university.

Images on social media on Sunday showed armored personnel carriers and vehicles with water cannons entering central Minsk, some heading towards the Independence Square, which has been cordoned off.

A protester in Minsk who gave her name as Lyudmila told BBC News 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.” .

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 four in the afternoon, 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. It’s difficult to estimate numbers of this size from the ground, but I’d say there were at least 100,000, possibly many more. For the fourth Sunday in a row, President Lukashenko’s attempts to stop the protest against him failed.

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

The activist said on Saturday that she had gone to Poland because she would have faced a long jail 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.