Detentions without the use of force: how the protest rally in the center of Minsk went

The Belarusian riot police stopped the action of those who disagreed with the results of the presidential elections on Independence Square in Minsk. As the RT correspondent reported, at the time of the start of the action, scheduled for 19:00, no more than 100-150 people gathered in the square.

“Meanwhile, the authorities pulled reinforced detachments of the police and internal troops to the center. The siloviki housed in trucks near the Independence Square, but they do not get out of the cars, "the correspondent described the beginning of the rally.

At the same time, every 30 minutes on a loudspeaker citizens were called to leave the square, because, being there, citizens "violated the law." Later, law enforcement officers closed the passage to the church located on the square, where, according to media reports, there were also the protesters, and cordoned off the territory.

“The riot police came. Most of the protesters managed to escape. There were about 50-70 people in the ring. Detentions are carried out correctly, without the use of force, ”said RT correspondent Kostya Pridybailo.

According to RIA Novosti, riot police officers began to stop all the men who had gathered in the square, but the security forces did not touch the women and journalists.

“Yes, we confirm the facts of arrests,” the agency quotes a representative of the Municipal Department of Internal Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee. At the same time, the number of those detained at today's action has not yet been reported.

Let us remind you that the presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission of the republic, the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko received the support of 80.1% of voters. His closest opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya - 10.12%.

After the publication of the preliminary results of the elections, large-scale protests began in the republic. Participants of these rallies demand Lukashenka's resignation from the post of head of state and new elections. In the first days of the protest actions were accompanied by clashes between the security forces and demonstrators, but later the speeches of those dissatisfied with the results of the elections began to take place peacefully.

In mid-August, representatives of the European Union announced that the union does not recognize the results of the elections, and announced their intentions to impose sanctions against persons who are responsible "for violence in the republic and electoral fraud." Later, Poland noted that they would advocate the introduction of extensive restrictive measures against Belarus.

As the Prime Minister of the country Mateusz Morawiecki said, Warsaw does not plan to individually impose sanctions by analogy with Lithuania, which intends to independently impose restrictions against a number of Belarusian officials. According to him, we are talking about sanctions in the "European format".

“We want the sanctions to be taken seriously by Alexander Lukashenko. Therefore, 20 or 30 people who would receive a ban on entering the territory of the European Union is decidedly few, "RIA Novosti quotes Moravetsky.

Russia's position

In the afternoon of August 26, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin did not intend to assess what was happening in Belarus. According to Peskov, such behavior would mean interference in the affairs of the republic.

“In this case, to give any assessments of what is happening or to assess certain actions of law enforcement agencies that perform the function of ensuring law and order would mean interfering in the internal affairs of our neighboring, allied Belarus,” said Peskov.

Later, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also noted that "the position of non-interference in the affairs of a sovereign state is the cornerstone of Russia's foreign policy." At the same time, she noted that Moscow and Minsk have a special form of relationship - the Union State. In this regard, the Russian side has certain obligations.

Let us remind you that earlier Dmitry Peskov reported that the Russian Federation is ready to assist the Belarusian side in resolving the situation if Minsk makes a request, but will not assess the reasons for what happened or interfere in any way in what is happening.

In addition, on August 26, Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. The head of the Russian state again pointed to the counterproductiveness of any attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of Belarus.

“During the exchange of views on the situation in Belarus after the presidential elections, the Russian side accentuated the counterproductiveness of any attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the republic and put pressure on its leadership,” reads a statement published by the Kremlin’s press service following the conversation between Putin and Conte.