Alexander Lukashenko won the presidential elections in Belarus. This was reported in the Central Election Commission of the republic, announcing the preliminary results of the voting. The current head of state, who has held office since 1994, is gaining 80.23% of the vote.
His closest competitor, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, received the support of 9.9% of voters. The turnout was 84.23%, that is, 5 million 790 thousand people.
“These are the preliminary data that will be clarified for the meeting of the commission dedicated to the election results, but I don’t think they will change significantly,” said Lidia Yermoshina, chairman of the CEC of Belarus.
Earlier, the wife of the ex-contender for the post of President of Belarus Valery Tsepkalo Veronika announced Tikhanovskaya's intention to go to court. Another candidate, Andrei Dmitriev, also claimed that there were violations in the counting of votes.
Night protests
On Sunday evening, several hours after the polling stations closed, demonstrators began to take to the streets of Belarusian cities. In Minsk, one of the main points of their collection was the square near the stele "Minsk - Hero City". Barricades also began to appear on the central streets of the capital. As the press secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Olga Chemodanova told TASS, “law enforcement officers were forced to use special means against participants in the riots,” including noise grenades, cars with water cannons. The media also reported on the use of rubber bullets by security forces, but there has not yet been an official confirmation of this information.
- Are you riot police like that?
- Yes.
- Did you provoke something?
- No, I just ran away.
Footage of our correspondent Konstantin Pridybailo from Minsk, where there are violent clashes between protesters and the police pic.twitter.com/EFVB1anV5P
Presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya appealed to her supporters and the Belarusian security forces.
“I want to ask the police and the troops to remember that they are part of the people. And ask your voters: prevent provocations, there is no need to give a reason to use violence against you. I know that Belarusians will wake up tomorrow in a new country, and I hope that tomorrow there will be only good news. Please stop the violence. First of all, officers, I know that you can do this, ”the tut.by portal quotes her as saying.
The situation in Minsk began to calm down by about three in the morning. Thus, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus reported that they "control the situation at unauthorized mass events." At the same time, the Investigative Committee of the Republic said that the investigative-operational group began to inspect the scene of the incident in the city center, and called on passers-by to disperse so as not to interfere with her work.
Similar protest actions, which also escalated into clashes with law enforcement officers, took place in Brest, Grodno, Gomel and other cities.
There is no exact information about the victims at the moment, but Telegram channels reported one dead and at least four victims.
According to the representative of the human rights center "Viasna" Valentin Stefanovich, there are data on three victims and one dead.
“Yes, there is information about one victim. This happened as a result of the collision of special vehicles on the protesters. Three people were seriously injured, one died as a result of a traumatic brain injury, ”TASS quotes him.
The exact number of those arrested during the events is also unknown. According to the human rights center Viasna, at least 140 people were detained during protests across the country.
The Russian Embassy in Belarus did not receive notifications that there might be Russians among the detainees.
The head of the Belarusian Investigative Committee Ivan Noskevich announced the initiation of criminal cases on the fact of riots and violence against employees of the internal affairs bodies. The defendants can face from eight to 15 years in prison.
“They (riots. - RT ) took place in the city of Minsk and a number of other regions of the country tonight. All unlawful actions were accompanied by violence against police officers, dozens of whom were injured, ”BelTA quoted him as saying.
At the same time, the agency Sputnik Belarus notes that problems with the Internet have been observed in the republic for the second day.
"Deja vu in Minsk"
Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyansky, commenting on the events in Belarus on the night of August 10, compared them with the Ukrainian "Euromaidan".
“Deja vu in Minsk. Obviously, there are those who disagree with Lukashenka's re-election. However, they are still a loud minority that tries to impose their will on the silent majority. And Western "geoengineers" shamelessly use it, just as they did on the "Maidan" in Ukraine, destroying the country, "the diplomat wrote on Twitter.
According to Aleksey Chepa, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, the reason for the mass actions in Belarus was the lack of confidence in the republic's electoral system.
“We must not allow the society to have doubts about the reliability of the elections. People should not be allowed to think that their vote has been stolen. I hope that the Belarusian authorities will make the right decision, that tough countermeasures will not be applied, and that the situation will calm down and the authorities will not allow outside interference. Because, naturally, there are forces that benefit from shaking the situation in the country. It is extremely unprofitable for us, "the interlocutor of RT emphasized.