Belarus protesters beaten, activists say

MINSK, Belarus — Police in Belarus cracked down on opposition protesters who tried to hold a forbidden demonstration in the capital where, according to a human-rights group, more than 400 people were arrested and many were beaten.

The demonstrators had hoped to build on a rising wave of defiance of the former Soviet republic’s authoritarian government, led by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994.

About 700 people had tried to march Saturday along Minsk’s main avenue but were blocked by a cordon of riot police wielding clubs and holding shields. After a standoff, the arrests began.

Tatiana Revyako of the human-rights group Vesna said more than 400 people were arrested, saying “many of the arrested were beaten and are in need of medical help.”

Police declined to comment on the arrests or the purported beatings.

Among those arrested were about 20 journalists, according to the Belarusian Journalists’ Association.