The situation in Minsk is getting out of control as thousands of Belarus protesters are on the streets against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. During the rally on Sunday a total of 125 protesters were detained by police. Independence Square in the middle of the city has been sealed and is guarded by the security forces.
Thousands gathered in Belarus' capital on Sunday, capping a 3rd week of demonstrations against President Lukashenko, who is now facing calls for fresh elections by the European Union.
Police detained more than 100 people in Minsk, Deutsche Welle and the DPA newswire reported pic.twitter.com/kIK20w7kh7
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) August 30, 2020
#Belarus. There are numerous reports that infantry fighting vehicles are heading to the #Minsk city centre.People are now not far from the riot police cordon near Lukashenko's residence. They are aboslutely peaceful. They brought birthday “gifts” that they leave near the cordon. pic.twitter.com/NNxomWOgon
— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) August 30, 2020
The interior ministry warned the citizens earlier not to participate in the rally in Sunday but the pro-democracy movement did not give importance to this warning and said that Lukashenko needs to realize that the masses are not with him. They also said that Lukashenko’s time is up. He has ruled the country for 26 years and today was his 66th birthday as well. Heavy security was deployed at the centre of Minsk but crowd gathered therewith the red and white flags and they were chanting “Leave”.
Lukashenko is termed as the “Last dictator of Europe” and during his time period in power he was accused of repressing the opposition as well as new media. In last few days many people were arrested for their participation in the protests. Russian president Vladimir Putin has also supported Lukashenko.