• Clashes in Belarus, EU: "Violence is not the answer"
  • Belarus. Night of clashes after the vote: at least one dead and dozens injured, 3,000 people arrested
  • Belarus, Lukashenko wins the presidential elections with 80.23 percent of the vote

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13 August 2020 The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, said he was "deeply concerned about the violence of the Belarusian authorities against those who peacefully manifest the desire for change. Belarusians - Sassoli stressed - have the right to protest and express their anger against the contested results of the elections and the opaque electoral process, which - he recalls - did not respect the minimum international standards ". Hence the request for an immediate stop to the violence. "I ask President Lukashenko to end the repression and refrain from further violence. The use of brutal force by law enforcement agencies against their own people resulting in deaths and injuries should have consequences under international law, including targeted sanctions . I ask Mr. Lukashenko to immediately release those who have been arrested and to put an end to the violence in the country. "

Borrell: "The regime must change"
"The violence in Belarus must be stopped and the regime must change". Thus the High Representative of the EU, Josep Borrell, in an extensive reflection published on his blog, on the eve of the extraordinary Foreign Council, convened for tomorrow afternoon, to discuss the situation. "The situation in Belarus has become a matter of grave concern. Alexander Lukashenko and the Belarusian authorities must stop the repression against the people and open dialogue with society. In recent months, Belarusians have clearly shown their desire for democracy and respect for rights. Fundamental political change is a prerequisite for the further development of relations between the EU and Belarus, "says Borrell. "If not - he explains - we will have to reconsider our relations with" Minsk "and eventually adopt sanctions against those responsible for the violence, arbitrary arrests and falsification of electoral results".

Police captain arrested Police
captain Yegor Yemelyanov, who publicly resigned in the protest run after the presidential elections, was arrested in Novopolotsk. This was reported by the Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva, quoting his wife, Marina Yemelyanova. According to her, her husband is accused of Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Belarus (violation of the order to organize or hold mass events) and will be tried on August 13.

"He is a man with a keen sense of justice. There is an unpleasant situation in the country and he did not want to participate: when there was a risk of a state of emergency, we talked and decided it was time to leave", Marina said.

Another 700 people arrested
The police in Belarus arrested another 700 people yesterday, the fourth day of demonstrations against Lukashenko's re-election. This was announced by the Interior Ministry denouncing that the protests are "illegal mass events". The total number of detentions since the beginning of the protests is 6,700.

On social videos of men throwing away uniforms in protest
In Belarus, social videos of men who call themselves former members of the special forces have appeared and are filmed throwing away their uniforms in protest against police violence. Russian media such as Izvestia and RIA Novosti cite the case of Evgeny Novitsky, of Logoisk, who posted pictures of his brother throwing his uniform in the garbage can on his Instagram page. Or that of Artem Belinovich, who threw down his cap and said that "the brotherhood of the Belarusian special forces no longer exists in Belarus". It is not possible at the moment to establish with certainty that these people are actually former members of the special forces but, according to several newspapers, similar videos are multiplying on the Belarusian Telegram channels.

Tass: armed men in the offices of Yandex
In the Minsk offices of the Russian internet giant Yandex, gunmen have arrived: a source reports to the Russian state news agency Tass. The news was confirmed to Tass by Yandex's press office, which stressed that the company is "trying to figure out the details". "Unidentified people in black and armed robes have arrived at Yandex's offices in Minsk", the source explained to Tass, adding that "the offices are blocked and several employees are inside".