It has become a ritual: every Sunday for three weeks, opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko have demonstrated in Minsk. The streets were crowded on Sunday after lunch. The crowd was very dense and displayed the red and white flags of the opposition in the main streets of the capital. The slogans have always been the same since the disputed re-election of President Lukachenko on August 9: "Lukachenko, go!".
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"A real showdown" between Lukashenko and his opponents
Facing the demonstrators, the riot forces deployed were impressive. Military vehicles converged on the city center and from the start of the demonstration at least several dozen people were arrested. Police lines were trying to prevent the various processions from joining. "A real showdown has started between Alexander Lukashenko and the opponents. These demonstrations will be repeated every Sunday, which will perhaps, in the long term, cause the wear and tear of this regime," said Olga Gille-Belova, lecturer at the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne and specialist in authoritarian regimes.
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For the moment, the regime is still deaf to the growing international protests. The protest is also very strong in other cities of the country, in Brest or Grodno, where there too the demonstrators took to the streets again on Sunday.