Special equipment in the city center and the use of water cannons: how were the protests in Minsk

Another unauthorized protest action took place in Minsk on Sunday, October 11.

During the rally, according to the official representative of the Minsk city executive committee's police department Natalya Ganusevich, several dozen protesters were detained.

“They were taken to the territorial police stations for investigations,” RIA Novosti quoted her as saying.

As the press secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus Olga Chemodanova said before the start of the action, the city militia was transferred to an enhanced regime of service.

In the Belarusian capital, the movement of personal and public transport was also limited.

The department recalled that for the participation and organization of unauthorized events "both administrative and criminal liability is provided."

As RIA Novosti reported, several units of special equipment were pulled to the Officers' House.

In addition, the servicemen fenced off the “Minsk - Hero City” stele, near which the demonstrators gathered.

In connection with the protest rallies, the Minsk Metro announced the closure of several stations.

In addition, in the city, by order of the authorities, the bandwidth of the mobile Internet was reduced.

This was announced by the Belarusian operator A1.

It also became known that during the rally, law enforcement officers used water cannons against the protesters.

“Many people have gathered in the center of Minsk, the event is not authorized.

Water cannons and stun grenades were used against the protesters, ”Natalya Ganusevich confirmed.

• Dispersal of protesters in Minsk

In addition, the police officers over the loudspeaker asked the protesters who had gathered at the stele “Minsk - Hero City” to disperse and comply with the requirements of the law.

In addition, it was reported that protesters attacked a man who is believed to be a law enforcement officer.

The footage of the Ruptly video agency shows how two protesters threw a man in a balaclava with a truncheon to the ground and began to beat him.

• In Minsk, protesters allegedly attacked a security official

According to a TASS correspondent, the security forces ousted the demonstrators from the central districts of the city, after which they moved to the Pushkinskaya metro area.

To disperse them, the security forces again used water cannons, the agency said.

Participants of the action several times entered into clashes with the police, throwing various objects at the security officials.

In response, riot police used truncheons.

After the end of the protest action, the Internet was resumed in the city, and subway stations were also reopened.

According to the prosecutor of the Belarusian capital, Oleg Lavrukhin, since the beginning of the protest actions in August in Minsk, about three thousand people have been brought to administrative responsibility.

"Of these, two-thirds, as a rule, are punishment in the form of arrest, and the rest - more than a thousand people - are administrative fines under Article 23.34 (Violation of the order of organizing or holding mass events. -

)," he said.

Detention of journalists

During the Sunday protests in Minsk, a number of local and Russian journalists were detained.

In particular, Natalya Ganusevich said that several Russian journalists were taken to the regional department of internal affairs in order to check documents.

In turn, TASS reported that four journalists of the agency, three correspondents of the BelaPAN agency, and also a photo correspondent of the Belarusian newspaper Novy Chas were detained in Minsk.

TASS employees were released after checking their documents.

In turn, the Belarusian Association of Journalists in its Telegram channel reported that more than 20 media workers were detained while covering the protest events.

“At the moment, 17 journalists have been detained in Minsk, four in Grodno, four in Vitebsk, and one in Mogilev,” the association said.

It is noted that among the detainees there are representatives of the Belarusian and foreign media.

RIA Novosti also reported that the security forces detained the agency's correspondent Sergei Popov, who worked in the center of Minsk.

At the time of the arrest, the man was near the Planeta hotel, he was taken to the Oktyabrskoye police station, and three hours later he was released.

Later it became known that Popov was again detained in the center of Minsk, an hour later he was also released.

In addition, the police released Sputnik Belarus photojournalist Viktor Tolochko, who was also detained in Minsk twice a day.

Meanwhile, TASS reports that a number of journalists from some non-state media have been in the Oktyabrskiy district police department of Minsk for more than six hours.

Mass protests began in Belarus on the evening of August 9 after the preliminary results of the presidential elections held that day in the republic became known.

Citizens, dissatisfied with the organization and the results of the vote, went to the rally, which escalated into riots and clashes with the police.

Protests in the country are still ongoing, but in most cases they were peaceful.