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March 27, 2021New demonstrations in Belarus against Alexander Lukashenko's government.
Over 170 people were arrested by the police who intervened by force to stop the protests.
According to the Viasna human rights center, there were a series of decentralized demonstrations in the capital Minsk and not a single march.
Opposition supporters planned to meet in the early afternoon in the center of the capital, but were stopped by a massive police presence, which blocked several streets, a square and a park.
According to an association of Belarusian journalists, law enforcement agencies have started arresting random people at bus stops, including five Belarusian reporters. Among the journalists also Nicholas Connolly, correspondent of Deutsche Welle, who was held for about five hours, according to what the German broadcaster announced.
This protest movement has been going on since August, after the presidential elections awarded Lukashenko a sixth term, amid allegations of fraud by the opposition. Lukashenko has been leading the country with an iron fist for 26 years and is called the last dictator of Europe.