More Than Thousand Arrested During Demonstrations Against Lukashenko
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Police arrested more than 1000 people on the 99th day of the protests in Belarus. Uniformed men in Minsk used tear gas and shock grenades to disperse the demonstrations on Sunday.
During renewed protests against the alleged re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, more than 300 people were arrested, according to the human rights group Wesna. Journalists are among them.
Videos distributed in the online service Telegram show how uniformed men used tear gas against peaceful demonstrators in the capital Minsk in order to break up individual rallies. There were repeated clashes with the police, in which the security forces repeatedly beat people. Women and men were dragged into prisoner trucks and minibusses.
Police injured some protestors with batons and shock grenades, including a woman causing her foot to bleed. Several thousand people were out and about in large groups in Minsk, and there were similar demonstrations in other cities.
The Minsk municipality authorities closed, again, fifteen metro stations to prevent demonstrators from entering the city center. In the morning, mobile operators switched off the Internet. The responsible authorities wanted to make it more difficult to meet at events. Besides, the police sealed off several streets and squares, some with heavy equipment. Many prisoner types of transport appeared in the capital.
On the now 99th day of the protest, the demonstrators also remembered the death of a 31-year-old government opponent a few days ago. The man is said to have been attacked and died of serious injuries a day later. We will not forgive the death of Roman Bondarenko, vowed the opposition presidential candidate Ms. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on Telegram. The people of Belarus should continue to fight together for freedom and their lives.
International community can designate the unknown with balaclavas the extremists
On Sunday evening Ms. Tikhanovskaya has revealed that she is in discussion with the international community to designate the unknown in balaclavas, who are hijacking, disappearing, and beating up those who dare to show resistance to the regime standing peacefully with a poster or even banned blue-and-red flag the extremists. She spoke with the Strana dla Zhyzni channel (The country to live in). Her advisor, Mr. Franak Viačorka, tweeted that the international community can impose more sanctions, investigate crimes, and set up an International Tribunal.
On August 9, the Belorussia electoral committee announced Mr. Lukashenko winner of the presidential elections with 80.1 percent of the vote. But the evidence for the falsification of the elections indicated that, most likely, it was a manufactured result. The opposition perceives civil rights activist Ms. Tichanowskaya as the real winner. She fled to the EU country Lithuania for fear for her safety. The Belorussian police have been arresting participants of the demonstrations and also nearly everyone who publicly shows resistance to the ruling regime, for instance, standing with a self-made poster or even banned white-and-red flag on the street. The EU has already initiated targeted sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko and some members of his entourage.