Belarusian police detained over 300 people during demonstrations on Sunday demanding the resignation of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Belarusian human rights organization Vyasna speaks of 311 detainees. The protests in the country have been going on for almost three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to AFP, 20,000 to 30,000 people took to the streets of Minsk for Sunday’s demonstration. In the procession, some protesters went to the Kurapaty forest on the metropolis’ outskirts, where mass graves of victims of Stalin’s purges were discovered. Residents of Minsk traditionally commemorate Soviet repression victims as part of the Du\u0161i\u010dek holiday, but this year the authorities did not allow the memorial service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police hit the protesters hard on Sunday, using flash grenades and gunfire. The Belarusian Interior Ministry has threatened to use firearms against the protesters in the past. Still, according to the authorities, it was not a deadly gun wound on Sunday, the AP agency reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, the Belarusian Interior Ministry announced that 300 people had been detained during protests in and around Minsk. According to the Center for the Protection of Human Rights, the Interax agency reports 311 detainees, mostly in Minsk, but also arrested the police in Brest, Grodno, and other cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States today called on Minsk to release detained protesters and independently investigate all allegations of detainees’ torture during the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) assessment of the situation in Belarus. “We are deeply concerned about the continued use of violence, intimidation, and repression against Belarusians,” said Andrew Bremberg, the US ambassador to the UN, who also called on the Belarusian regime to engage in dialogue with civil society. According to him, Russia’s envoy to the UN, Gennady Gatilov, condemned Belarus’s growing external pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belarusian security forces arrested thousands during the protests. According to human rights organizations, hundreds of detainees said police beat them during or after their arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Reuters, Belarus has responded by stating that it is not investigating any abuse of police power. “Currently, no cases of police misconduct have been identified,” said Michal Vavulo, a representative of the Belarusian Committee of Inquiry. He accused the protesters of taking small children with them to the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ongoing demonstrations against Lukashenko’s regime sparked early August elections. Opposition and protesters consider the president’s office announced victory to be forged, with tens of thousands of people demonstrating in Minsk every Sunday since. The authoritarian president, who has been in power for 26 years, last week threatened to use violence against demonstrators, call the army to the streets and arm the volunteers from so-called people’s parties. He had the land borders with Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Ukraine partially closed last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Belarusian government announced on Sunday that it would close the borders to foreigners and stateless people. He cites the spread of coronavirus as a reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Belarusian police detained over 300 people during demonstrations on Sunday demanding the resignation of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Belarusian human rights organization Vyasna speaks of 311 detainees. The protests in the country have been going on for almost three months. According to AFP, 20,000 to 30,000 people took to the streets of Minsk for Sunday’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n