Tens of Thousands Protest in Belarus Capital Against Lukashenko

9/20/20
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Sunday despite authorities deploying a heavy police presence. The protest came a day after officers detained hundreds of demonstrators at a women's march in the capital. The opposition movement has kept up a wave of large-scale demonstrations every Sunday since President Alexander Lukashenko won a disputed victory in August 9 polls. People holding red-and-white protest flags gathered at the "March of Justice" that occupied the whole of a central avenue and walked towards the heavily guarded Palace of Independence, where Lukashenko has his offices. They held placards with slogans such as "Cowards beat up women" and "Get out!". Before the march, police and internal troops had positioned military trucks and armored personnel carriers in the city center and set up barbed wire. Riot police in black balaclavas sporadically detained protesters carrying flags and signs at the start, while some people took shelter in a shopping mall and in a fast-food restaurant to escape arrest. The Viasna rights group said at least 16 had been detained in Minsk as well as eight at protests in other cities.

The scale of Saturday's detentions prompted the opposition's Coordination Council to warn of a "new phase in the escalation of violence against peaceful protesters." Among those detained was one of the most prominent faces of the protest movement, 73-year-old activist Nina Baginskaya, although she was later released. Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory over Lukashenko in the polls and has taken shelter in Lithuania, on Saturday said Belarusians were ready to strip police obeying "criminal orders" of anonymity. Authorities have jailed many of Tikhanovskaya's allies who formed the leadership of the Coordination Council or driven them out of the country. One of her campaign partners, Maria Kolesnikova, has been imprisoned and charged with undermining national security. She released a message to protesters on Sunday saying: "Freedom is worth fighting for. Don't be afraid to be free!"

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Rogue Valley said:

Your English is horrible.
Try again with better clarity.

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Ringo Stalin said:

Oh, you learn some new english words! Some relief... No, don't get me wrong, I love your classics: "another Stalinist bs from this Stalinist source." But it's nice to read something new from the goebbels ministry.

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