MASSIVE PROTESTS CONTINUE TO ROCK BELARUS
More than 100,000 people marched in Belarus’ capital on Sunday to protest against the country’s authoritarian leader, who won his sixth term in office in an election widely seen as rigged.
The demonstrators demanded the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko, and freedom for political prisoners. Police used water cannons in an attempt to disperse the crowds, but the protesters remained undeterred.
One video from the rally showed a group of protesters approaching a water cannon vehicle, opening a hatch on its side and removing pieces from inside the vehicle. Media reports say the water cannon malfunctioned after that and drove away.
The Viasna human rights center said that about 120,000 took part in a rally on
Sunday.
Mass protests have rocked Belarus for almost two months, with the largest rallies taking place on Sundays and drawing up to 200,000 people. The unprecedented wave of unrest was triggered by the results of the Aug. 9 presidential election that handed Lukashenko, who has run Belarus with an iron fist for 26 years, a crushing victory with 80 percent of the vote.
In the first days after the vote, Belarusian authorities cracked down brutally on the protesters, with police detaining thousands and injuring scores with truncheons, rubber bullets and stun grenades.
The government has since scaled down on the violence, but kept the pressure on, detaining hundreds of protesters and prosecuting top activists.