The mobilization against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko is gaining momentum in Belarus. Calls for large peaceful rallies were launched for the weekend of August 15, despite brutal repression by the police.

The call comes from the main opposition candidate for the presidential election, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, who has been a refugee in Lithuania for four days. In Minsk, the Belarusian capital, protesters also called for a meeting on Saturday on the sidelines of the funeral of a protester.

A rally is scheduled for 12 p.m. near the Pushkin metro station, near which this protester was killed on Monday. Police say he was killed when a projectile he was about to launch exploded, but opposition media claim he could have been hit by law enforcement fire.

Human chains against violence and fraud

In response to the violence, the European Union agreed on Friday to sanctions against Belarusian officials linked to repression or electoral fraud. Sanctions that intervene while the mobilization has spread with human chains against violence and fraud, while iconic factory workers have launched solidarity actions and walkouts.

On Friday evening, thousands of people gathered in front of the seat of government, laying flowers at the feet of the young conscripts deployed there. Other gatherings took place in several cities.

Unlike the demonstrations at the start of the week, which were violently repressed, the actions on Thursday and Friday went smoothly. The authorities have also announced the release of more than 2,000 of the 6,700 people arrested during the protests. 

Alexander Lukashenko asks to meet with Vladimir Putin

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday that he wanted to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. "An aggression is being carried out against Belarus," he said, during a meeting with officials. "We have to contact Putin, the Russian president, so that I can speak with him now. Because it is not a threat only against Belarus."

Friday, Alexander Lukashenko had called for a "certain restraint" against the protesters, whom he had previously qualified as "sheep" to whom it was necessary "to put the brain in place".

Accusing the regime of "massacre", Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, who claims victory in the presidential election of August 9, for her part announced the creation of a committee to organize the transfer of power and called for a dialogue with the authorities.

With AFP

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