Belarus leader digs in as protests go on

Minsk, Aug. 20: Demonstrators again took to the streets of the Belarusian capital and other cities Thursday, keeping up their push for the nation’s authoritarian leader to step down after extending his 26-year rule in a vote the opposition saw as rigged. President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed the protesters as Western puppets and threatened opposition leaders with criminal charges.

Following that, a leading opposition figure reported receiving threats and being threatened with arrest. The 65-year-old Belarusian leader dismissed the European Union’s criticism of the Aug. 9 vote and told its leaders to mind their own business.

The EU leaders on Wednesday rejected the official results of the election that showed Lukashenko win 80 per cent of the vote and expressed solidarity with protesters. The EU said it’s preparing sanctions against Belarusian officials responsible for the brutal post-election police actions. During the first four days of protests, police detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs.

At least three protesters died. The crackdown fuelled outrage, forcing authorities to change tactics and stop breaking up crowds that grew to an unprecedented 200,000 on Sunday.

Police again beefed up their presence on the streets of the Belarusian capital Wednesday, blocking access to some government buildings and also deploying in numbers outside major factories where workers have been on strike since Monday. The industrial action that has engulfed major factories across the country cast a tough challenge to Lukashenko, who had relied on blue-collar workers as his core support base. In a bid to stop the strike from spreading, On Wednesday, he warned that the participants would face dismissal and ordered law enforcement agencies to protect factory managers from the opposition pressure.