Riot police arrest a guy in a march of opposition supporters from central Minsk to a Stalin-era execution site just outside the capital, November 1, 2020 (Photo via STRINGER/AFP)
Tens of thousands of others demonstrated every Sunday in Belarus for nearly 3 months after leader Lukashenko won a crushing victory in the August presidential election.
The opposition’s main candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, denounced the vote as a fraud and supported it through Western leaders who refused to acknowledge the outcome.
Despite Lukashenko’s recent risk of “taking no prisoners,” protesters began marching from central Minsk to a Stalinist-era execution site just outside the capital.
An AFP journalist at the site heard a loud outburst and the sound of gunfire, and witnesses said police fired into the air obviously to prevent the protesters.
It was not known what kind of weapons were being used.
Videos posted on social media showed that, breaking with past protests, the government deployed armored off-road cars with guns on the roof in Minsk.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova told AFP that several other people had been arrested but denied that the police had used stun grenades and other equipment to oppose the protesters.
Tikhanovskaya, who fled to neighboring Lithuania, told protesters in a speech: “We have not forgotten our beyond and we will not do what is happening now. “
The former Soviet country has been affected by unprecedented protests since the 66-year-old authoritarian leader won.
But the scenario turns out to be stagnant, with Lukashenko backed by Moscow refusing to leave and the opposition unable to force his overthrow.
Lukashenko this week appointed a new interior minister and police leader in Minsk and said he would resign “in your dreams. “
“We’ll take prisoners, ” he said Friday.
Tikhanovskaya, who says she won the August vote, suggested her followers launch a national strike last Monday, but its effect appears to have been limited and officials say the economy is functioning normally.
Belarus this week closed land borders with EU members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, such as Ukraine, bringing up the coronavirus pandemic.
On Sunday, the government also banned foreigners from entering the country’s land border crossings.