Belarus opposition leaders arrested after mass protest

BELARUSIAN authorities arrested three of the leading opposition figures still free yesterday, a day after tens of thousands of people defied the army to march demanding the downfall of Alexander Lukashenko, the president.

Two weeks after an election his opponents say he rigged, Mr Lukashenko has not been able to halt the demonstrations, the biggest threat to his 26-year rule, despite earlier brutal police crackdowns. The president said last week he had ordered police to put down demonstrations in Minsk. But tens of thousands took to the streets on Sunday in one of the biggest demonstrations since the election, and dispersed peacefully.

A spokesman for the Coordination Council, an opposition body set up last week, told Reuters that Olga Kovalkova and Sarhei Dyleuski, two of its highest profile members, were yesterday detained near a factory entrance.

Later in the day, the opposition also reported the detention of Alexander Lavrinovich, the leader of striking workers at a major industrial plant.

Many of the leading figures in the Belarus opposition are already in jail or have fled the country, including Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger in the disputed election, who is in Lithuania.

Mrs Tsikhanouskaya, who entered the race after her husband was jailed and prevented from running, met with Stephen Biegun, the US deputy secretary of state in Vilnius yesterday.

In a statement issued by her campaign headquarters, she reaffirmed her readiness for talks on a transition of power to settle the crisis in Belarus. She also thanked the US for supporting the Belarusian people.

The US and the EU have dismissed the Belarusian election as neither free nor fair and urged authorities to engage in dialogue with the opposition.

The Coordination Council was set up with the stated aim of promoting a peaceful handover of authority, and comprises dozens of public figures including a Nobel Prize-winning author and the former head of the main state drama theatre. The government has launched a criminal investigation into the body, calling it an illegal attempt to seize power.

“Belarus has changed and authorities will have to talk to us,” Maria Kolesnikova, one of the council members, told reporters.