More Opposition Leaders Interrogated in Belarus

[Rogue Valley]

More Opposition Leaders Interrogated in Belarus

8/27/20
MINSK -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has prepared a contingent of law enforcement officers that could be sent to Belarus "if necessary" to restore order in the event of "looting" amid continuing post-election protests. Putin made the comments in a surprise interview aired on the state channel Rossia on August 27. "Russian forces won't be used unless extremist elements in Belarus cross the line and begin acts of looting," Putin said. The Russian president also said that he believed "Belarusian law enforcement agencies are demonstrating fairly reserved behavior, no matter what." Putin's comments came as Belarusian authorities continue to crack down on demonstrations against the August 9 presidential election won by longtime authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

As the protests entered their 19th day, Belarusian prosecutors continued to question leading opposition figures as part of what Minsk calls a "criminal investigation" into the opposition's recently formed Coordination Council. Maryya Kalesnikava, a senior member of exiled opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya's Coordination Council, was summoned to the headquarters of the Belarusian Investigative Committee for questioning on August 27. The head of the Belarusian Constitutional Court has declared that the Coordination Council is "unconstitutional," and two other key members of the council's presidium have been jailed on charges of organizing unauthorized demonstrations against Lukashenka. Belarusian Nobel Prize-winning author Svetlana Alexievich, one of dozens of public figures who has joined the Coordination Council, was questioned by the Investigative Committee on August 26. police in Minsk arrested at least 50 people who had gathered in the capital’s Independence Square for the 18th day of protests challenging the results of the presidential election.

Probably, we'll eventually see members of the opposition Coordination Council such as Maryya Kalesnikava (above) arrested and imprisoned.

Related: Putin Forms Law Enforcement ‘Reserve’ on Standby for Belarus

 

[Ringo Stalin]

Police detained 68 people during mass protests. Just for getting out on the road.

Calm down! Mediators from the OSCE and the EU are not required! This was not in Minsk, but in US Louisville.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Police detained 68 people during mass protests. Just for getting out on the road.

Calm down! Mediators from the OSCE and the EU are not required! This was not in Minsk, but in US Louisville.

US protesters are not being beaten while in the local jail.

 

[Ringo Stalin]

US protesters are not being beaten while in the local jail.

Care to share with us evidence of that, something like this:

 

[Rogue Valley]

:roll: You have no evidence that depicts a protester.

And no context. That video could be 30 years old.