‘Europe’s last dictator’ warns of crackdown against massive demonstrations in Belarus
MINSK, Belarus — Belarus’ authoritarian leader threatened Wednesday to bring criminal charges against opposition leaders and called on his security services to get tougher on demonstrators — a possible harbinger of a renewed crackdown on the peaceful protests challenging the extension of his 26-year rule.
President Alexander Lukashenko also accused the West of fomenting the unrest as he sought to consolidate his grip on power amid widening demonstrations.
Lukashenko spoke as the European Union rejected the official results of the Aug. 9 vote that kept him in office and expressed solidarity with protesters. The EU is preparing sanctions 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 stirred broad outrage and helped bolster protesters’ ranks. On Sunday, an estimated 200,000 people rallied around the Belarusian capital’s main square. The huge crowds forced the authorities to back off, and police refrained from interfering with demonstrations over the last five days.
But faced with a widening strike that engulfed the country’s biggest industrial plants, police moved again Tuesday to disperse some protests. Officers briefly detained about 50 demonstrators who gathered outside the Minsk Tractor Factory to support its workers, who have been on strike since Monday, according to Sergei Dylevsky, leader of the factory’s strike committee.
“People are on strike demanding Lukashenko’s resignation, and authorities respond with batons and riot police,” Dylevsky said. “Lukashenko is not changing.”
After the first meeting of the opposition’s Coordination Council on Wednesday, members said they would focus on launching talks with the government on the transition of power. “We are ready for dialogue,” said Pavel Latushko, a former culture minister and diplomat.
The council called for a new presidential vote organized by newly formed election commissions and demanded an investigation into the crackdown on protests and compensation for the victims.
“Only a new election can solve the crisis,” leading council member Maria Kolesnikova said.
European Council President Charles Michel said after chairing an emergency teleconference of the 27-nation bloc leaders that the EU does not recognize the official vote tally and “stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus.” He said it will impose sanctions on “a substantial number” of people linked to Belarus’ election fraud and violence.
Lukashenko, who has been dubbed “Europe’s last dictator” in the West, defiantly dismissed the EU criticism and told its leaders to mind their own business. Belarus is not an EU member.
“They have plenty of their own problems,” the 65-year-old former state farm director said at a meeting with officials. “And they shouldn’t nod at Belarus to distract attention from those problems. Those gentlemen have a log in their eyes, but they don’t see it.”
He also instructed Belarus’ State Security Committee, which still goes under its Soviet-era name KGB, to “track down and stop the instigators of the unrest organizers.”
“There must be no more unrest in Minsk,” Lukashenko said. “The people are tired. They want peace and silence.”
Undeterred by his threats, several hundred protesters gathered outside the Interior Ministry’s headquarters in heavy rain, shouting calls for the minister’s resignation.
“They are trying to scare us,” said 20-year-old demonstrator Alexander Filistovich. “Lukashenko doesn’t know other methods, but we don’t fear.”