Law enforcement officers arrest a participant in the Bright March for Women's Solidarity opposition event outside the Komarovsky Market on Saturday, September 19.

-

Valery Sharifulin / TASS / Sipa USA /

A new opposition march is scheduled for Sunday in the center of the Belarusian capital under high police surveillance, the day after the brutal arrest of hundreds of demonstrators.

Since the disputed re-election of Alexander Lukashenko on August 9, demonstrations of historic magnitude have been held every Sunday to demand the departure of the Head of State, in power for 26 years.

In Minsk and in other cities of the country

Sunday's protest is set to start at 2 p.m. in Minsk, but calls to protest in other cities across the country have also been posted on social media.

On Sunday morning, opposition media published images of military convoys circulating in the center of the capital.

The day before, the police brutally dispersed a demonstration of women there: according to the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Interior, Olga Tchemodanova, 415 people were arrested in Minsk, and 15 in other towns, for participating in " unauthorized demonstrations ".

In total, 385 of them have already been released, according to this source, which threatened with criminal prosecution the participants of other gatherings of this type.

Footage showed police officers bluntly carrying some of the demonstrators to prison vans.

The opposition fears an "escalation of violence"

With the number of arrests on Saturday having been much higher than in a similar demonstration the previous week, the opposition Coordination Council warned of "a new phase in an escalation of violence against peaceful protesters".

Activist Nina Baguinskaïa, 73, who became a figure in the movement against President Lukashenko, was arrested in particular, before being quickly released.

In the face of police repression, a well-followed opposition Telegram channel, Nexta, published a list of more than 1,000 people presented as Belarusian police officers.

During the protest actions, demonstrations regularly try to remove the masks or hoods of the police officers not wearing insignia, or badges with their identity.

A refugee in Lithuania, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claims victory in the August 9 election, said on Saturday that "Belarusians are ready to break down the anonymity of those who obey criminal orders" .

"You must look your people in the eyes, the one you must defend," she said, addressing the police, quoted on the Telegram channel of its press service.

Vladimir Putin called to the rescue by Lukashenko

President Alexander Lukashenko categorically refuses to bow and has requested the help of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who has pledged security support in Minsk if needed and pledged Belarus a loan of $ 1.5 billion.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is due to meet EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

European sanctions are planned against Belarusian personalities found responsible for electoral fraud and police repression against demonstrators.

The Belarusian regime has imprisoned many cadres of the Opposition Coordination Council created by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

Others had to flee the country.

One of her leading allies, Maria Kolesnikova, for her part refused to be taken out of the country.

She is now imprisoned and accused of endangering national security.

World

Belarus: More than 300 women arrested during demonstration against Alexander Lukashenko

World

Belarus: Almost all pilgrims stranded at border with Ukraine have returned home


  • Repression

  • Demonstration

  • Opposition

  • Belarus

  • World