Demonstrations in Belarus: police violence during peaceful protests

For the fifteenth consecutive time, thousands of people protested against the ruler Lukashenko in Belarus. In Minsk, the police used stun grenades. According to human rights activists, there have been over 300 arrests.

Despite police violence, thousands of people peacefully protested against ruler Alexander Lukashenko for the fifteenth consecutive time in a Sunday demonstration in Belarus. In the capital Minsk, people first gathered in their residential areas and then formed protest marches with historic white-red-white flags.

Numerous arrests

Police began making arrests at the start of unauthorized meetings. Videos were circulated on online services showing police officers beating protesters.

The Wesna Human Rights Center released the names of over 300 people arrested that evening. There have been around 1,000 arrests on each of the last two Sundays. In other cities, too, people have again called for Lukashenko’s resignation.

A large number of policemen

The power apparatus attracted hundreds of uniformed men from the Ministry of the Interior and the army to Minsk. The prisoner trucks, water cannons and other heavy equipment were ready. The large squares of the capital were bordered by metal bars, as can be seen in the images of the Telegram news channel. Numerous subway stations have been closed to avoid the gathering of crowds; the authorities also throttled the cell phone network.

“March against fascism”

Officially, the protesters’ action was announced this time as a “march against fascism”. The organizers responded to Lukashenko’s latest insults by saying they were fascists.

Opposition politician Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who lives in exile in Lithuania, addressed the protest movement on Telegram’s online service on Saturday evening and described Sunday’s demonstration as another step towards a “free and fair Belarus”. “You cannot turn a country into a prison if no one is afraid of prison guards,” he wrote.

Tichanowskaya also wants Interior Ministry units, including the OMON Special Police, to be declared “terrorist organizations” internationally. The initiative was launched, he said after meeting with EU politicians. Criminal trials for crimes against humanity would also be prepared.

“Lukashenko will not dialogue”

Political scientist Pavel Ussow does not assume that the political situation in Belarus will change rapidly. “Lukashenko will not leave his post, which he captured by force, until the new year. He will not enter any dialogue. The system will continue as it is currently acting – with terror, pressure, beatings and violence.”

Most of the protesters took to the streets for months and demonstrated non-violently. Many raised their arms to heaven today, not to surrender, but as a sign of their peaceful protest.

With Information from Karin Bensch, ARD Studio Moscow