Belarus police admit using live rounds on protesters
Violent post-election clashes claim second life
Belarusian authorities have for the first time admitted to using live rounds in clashes on a day that journalists corroborated a second protest fatality.
A statement released by the interior ministry yesterday said police opened fire on demonstrators in the western city of Bretsk, claiming they were armed with metal bars.
“Warning shots did not stop them,” the statement reads. “To protect the lives and health of officers, firearms were employed. One of the assailants is injured.”
The reported death of Alexander (Sasha) Vikhtor, 25, in Homel, eastern Ukraine, does not appear to be linked. In an interview with Radio Svoboda yesterday, his mother said he didn’t even take part in the protest, but was arrested on Sunday night while on his way to see his girlfriend. He suffered from a heart condition, she said, and became ill while being held for several hours in extreme heat inside a police van.
“They grabbed him somewhere in the centre,” she said. “He wrote to say that he’d been caught ... and that was it. I’ve looked for him all these days. Today, finally, they told me Sasha is in a morgue.”
Authorities are yet to grant access to the body. According to the mother, this was likely because he had been badly beaten.
“I ask anyone who was in the van with him to say what happened,” she said. “I want people to know that this odious government killed my son!”
Overnight Tuesday to Wednesday saw Belarus witness a third episode of violent clashes following Sunday’s disputed presidential elections. According to the interior ministry, more than 1,000 were arrested overnight, taking the total to at least 4,000. The health ministry reported at least 50 new hospitalisations.
At least some of the arrested are being held in primitive conditions – with one video from a police station in Minsk depicting dozens lying face down on the floor in an open courtyard.
Amid an informational blackout – authorities switched off most of the internet early on Tuesday evening – sporadic reports suggested the regime had resolved to turn up the terror dial.
Most of Tuesday night’s clashes were centred in the working-class suburbs of Minsk, but there were exchanges in towns and cities across the country too.
As before, police targeted demonstrators using stun grenades, teargas and rubber bullets. But on Tuesday they were also seen arresting children – in Minsk a 15-year-old boy was held down with a grenade close to his head. An order also seemed to be given out to specifically target journalists, with scores beaten up and disappearing. The local independent journalist union has reported a total of 17 cases of violent assault.
In a new turn, security officers switched focus to vehicles honking in support of the demonstrators, which has been an obvious source of irritation for the security forces. All throughout the day, officers were seen lashing out at wing mirrors and windscreens. During the night, they dragged passengers from their seats for summarily beatings; and they rammed cars with their own.
In Hrodna, western Belarus, a military vehicle collided with a car carrying a five-year-old girl. She was rushed to hospital with injuries above her right eye; she needed stitches. Police said the parents were to blame.
Alexander Lukashenko, the self-styled dictator who has ruled Belarus since 1994, is facing a fight to stay in power following a scarcely credible declared landslide election win.
On Tuesday, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the rival who many believe actually won, left Belarus after what appeared to be direct threats to her family.