Supporter’s death fuels more protests
Thousands of people have rallied in Belarus following the death of a 31-year-old opposition supporter who reportedly was beaten by security forces, as the European Union condemned the violent crackdown that Belarusian authorities have continued to enforce against peaceful protesters.
Raman Bandarenka’s death on Friday came after more than three months of mass anti-government protests sparked by official election results that gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. Protesters have been calling for Lukashenko’s resignation.
More than 17,000 people have been detained – thousands of them brutally beaten – since the August presidential election, human rights advocates have reported.
Thousands of people carrying flowers and candles formed human chains of solidarity yesterday in several Belarusian cities, including the capital, Minsk, to honour Bandarenka, who died in a Minsk hospital after several hours of surgery for serious injuries.
Bandarenka was detained in a Minsk courtyard on Thursday by unidentified men, ‘‘ most likely plainclothes policemen’’, who went there to remove red and white ribbons, a symbol of the protests, said the leader of the Viasna human rights centre, Ales Bialiatsky. They handed him over to police officers, and Bandarenka was brutally beaten inside a van, suffering a severe head injury.
Belarusian authorities have denied responsibility for Bandarenka’s death. Police maintain that he was injured in a street fight.
Peter Stano, the EU’s spokesman for foreign affairs and security policy,said: ‘‘This is an outrageous and shameful result of the actions by the Belarusian authorities, who have not only directly and violently carried out repression of their own population, but also created an environment whereby such lawless, violent acts can take place.’’
Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who challenged Lukashenko in August’s presidential election and received the second-most votes, called Bandarenka ‘‘a hero’’ and ‘‘ an innocent victim of an inhumane system’’.
In an interview with state media yesterday, Lukashenko offered condolences to Bandarenka’s parents and said the death needed to be ‘‘ fairly and objectively’’ investigated.
Four people, including Bandarenka, are reported to have died since the protests began. No criminal probes have been launched into the deaths.
The EU has imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and several dozen officials over their role in the security crackdown. Stano said the bloc ‘‘ stands ready to impose additional sanctions’’.