Protests persist in Belarus despite vow to crush them
MINSK, Belarus — One day after President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus promised to crush with an iron fist the protests that have broken out since his reelection this month, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Minsk, on Sunday to show their determination to force him out of office.
After a week of rallies and publicity stunts in support of Lukashenko, who has led Belarus, a former Soviet republic, since 1994, many expected the protests against him to ebb. But by late Sunday afternoon, a sea of people had filled the main Independence Avenue in central Minsk, blocking all traffic there and on side streets.
Some estimates put the number of demonstrators at well over 100,000, in what appeared to be a repeat of a similar rally a week earlier.
Although Lukashenko declared a landslide victory and 80 percent of the vote in the Aug. 9 election, protesters and international bodies, including the European Union, have called it fraudulent. The main opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, also declared victory and fled to neighboring Lithuania out of fear for her safety.
Initial protests over the results were met with a violent crackdown by Lukashenko’s robust law enforcement apparatus, including beatings and mass detentions. No arrests or clashes were reported on Sunday, despite the presence of riot police vans parked near the demonstrations, though Lukashenko told a rally of supporters in the city of Grodno this weekend that protesters had until Monday to calm down.
Many at Sunday’s protest were wrapped in Belarus’ traditional white-andred flag, which became an opposition symbol after Lukashenko replaced it with a more Soviet-looking emblem soon after coming to power. A few came with the one used by Lukashenko’s supporters — a bid to show that the country is united in a desire to see him gone from office.
“It doesn’t matter what flag it is; we just want him to leave,” said Darya O. Rolya, 28, an accountant.
It was unclear how the protesters could achieve that aim, with Lukashenko having indicated repeatedly that he has no intention of succumbing to pressure from the streets.
“We had elections,” he told a crowd of workers on Aug. 17. “Until you kill me, there will not be any more elections.”