The anger does not fall. A protester died Monday in Belarus during protests against the re-election for a sixth term of President Alexander Lukashenko, dispersed by the police for the second consecutive evening. A protester was killed Monday evening by the explosive device he was about to throw at the police, and which exploded in his hands, according to the police. The opposition contests the official results, giving Lukashenko the winner with 80.08% of the vote, and considers the ballot falsified.
Thousands of his supporters took to the streets Monday evening, in several places in Minsk, the capital, and in other cities of this ex-Soviet republic. Shouting “Shame!”, The demonstrators faced large police forces who brutally kicked and beaten the protesters. A witness interviewed by AFP and several Russian and Belarusian media reported the use of tear gas, the firing of rubber bullets and stun grenades by the police. According to this witness, at least one journalist was injured in the leg. Police said they had arrested protesters.
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Barricades in Minsk
During the night, barricades were erected in central streets of Minsk, marking an escalation of tensions, and several explosions were heard, according to AFP journalists.
For her part, Lukashenko's main rival in this election, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, decided not to take part in the protests to avoid "provocations" and was unreachable in the evening, her team not knowing where she was, said his spokesperson Anna Krassoulina told AFP.
Spontaneous demonstrations punctuated by clashes with the police, which left dozens of wounded, had already erupted on Sunday evening upon the announcement of the first results giving the winner Alexander Lukashenko, 65 years old and who runs the country with one hand iron since 1994.
More than 3,000 people were then arrested and 21 criminal cases for "mass unrest" were opened. Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa spent 3 hours at the Election Commission Monday evening to demand a new vote count, before leaving without making any statements.
"Not worthy of being president"
Abroad, the European Commission, Paris, Berlin and London have condemned the repression. Warsaw has called for an EU summit devoted to the subject. Washington said it was "greatly concerned". Conversely, the Russian and Chinese leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, congratulated President Lukashenko. The latter had, however, accused Moscow of wanting to vassalize his country and seek to destabilize it.
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