Belarus protests proceed after president digs in

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Belarus protests proceed after president digs in

As Lukashenko landed on the Independence Palace in Minsk, protesters had been gathered in a close-by sq.. The video was launched on the Telegram m



As Lukashenko landed on the Independence Palace in Minsk, protesters had been gathered in a close-by sq.. The video was launched on the Telegram messaging app on a channel that different media recognized as being near Lukashenko’s press service.

Police made no instant efforts to interrupt up Sunday’s protest. Earlier this month, some 7,000 folks had been arrested at protests after the election, lots of them crushed with golf equipment or wounded by rubber bullets, which solely angered odd residents much more.

Lukashenko on Saturday ordered his protection minister to take “essentially the most stringent measures to guard the territorial integrity of our nation,” repeating claims that NATO forces had been readying on the Polish and Lithuanian borders — an accusation NATO rejected as “baseless.”

Lithuania additionally denied the claims, with President Gitanas Nausėda arguing that Lukashenko is “making an attempt to divert consideration from Belarus’s inside issues at any value with completely baseless statements about imaginary exterior threats.”

The Belarusian president, who’s been in energy 26 years, faces unprecedented protests after he claimed 80 p.c of the votes in an August presidential run-off. Authorities have responded with a violent crackdown.

That is the federal government’s “best mistake ever,” Tikhanovskaya — now in exile in Lithuania — advised Al Jazeera in an interview Saturday. “I name for authorities to not repeat this error as a result of our folks will always remember or forgive our president.”

Earlier this week, European Council President Charles Michel stated the EU “stands in solidarity with the folks of Belarus,” and introduced sanctions on a “substantial quantity” of individuals answerable for election fraud and violence towards protesters within the nation.

The Related Press contributed to this text.





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