Belarus Women Form Human Chains In Solidarity With Protesters

Other Holidays In Mars 2021 In Belarus

In the afternoon, round 20 journalists, from both native and worldwide media, have been detained on Freedom Square in Minsk. They have been taken to the Kastrychnitski district police, supposedly to check their identification and accreditation. Later that day, a bunch of Christians carrying Bibles had gathered outdoors the Saints Simon and Helena Roman Catholic Church on Independence Square, Minsk in protest of the desecration of the church by the security services that had occurred the previous day. The entrance to the church was blocked by security forces to prevent individuals from entering or leaving the church. A crowd of demonstrators later shaped on Independence Square outside the church which was surrounded by the safety forces.

At the same time, a separate rally was additionally held on the Lenin monument in front of the Government House in Minsk, only to be outnumbered by anti-Lukashenko demonstrators. In response, some pro-Lukashenko demonstrators joined the opposition protest, whereas others left the rally. Traffic in Minsk was halted by a drivers strike honking their horns and abandoning their automobiles in support of protesters. A small group of Lukashenko supporters were seen in Hrodna handing out state flags and different pro-authorities material to passersby. A pro-authorities rally was held at a stadium in Slutsk, after which, rally attendees approached a solidarity chain formed by opponents of Lukashenko and attempted to grab Belarusian opposition flags from the protesters.

Lukashenko conceded that an early presidential election could possibly be held if a brand new constitution is adopted, after it has been drafted and a referendum is held and handed belarus girls. The Prime Minister of Belarus, Roman Golovchenko, and cupboard resigned on 17 August 2020 in accordance with the constitution following an election.

Council members Sergei Dylevsky and Maxim Znak had been summoned for police questioning. Four members of the security forces resigned in solidarity with the demonstrators. Another pro-Lukashenko rally was held in Minsk at Independence Square, with another helicopter bearing a state flag flying over the demonstrators.

How A Women’S Revolution Is Testing Belarus Dictator

This was the first time since 2001 the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights did not monitor elections in Belarus. The OSCE has not recognized any elections in Belarus as free and truthful since 1995, and the federal government has obstructed past OSCE election-monitoring missions in the nation.

Strikes of workers in a number of state-owned factories additionally happened. Some of the protesters have been significantly injured, with no less than 50 protesters being taken to the hospital, a few of them had been in crucial situation and one of many protesters died. On 30 July, a permitted rally of presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya happened within the Friendship of Peoples Park in Minsk. According to human rights activists, sixty three,000–70,000 people gathered, but a statement from the Belarusian Interior Ministry alleged that only 18,250 people had been recorded passing through the steel-detecting checkpoints set up on the occasion. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported that it will not be monitoring the 2020 election because it had not been invited to do so.

Working-class people from Minsk Tractor Works additionally joined the protest in front of the Government House in Minsk. They took half in a massive march carrying banners claiming that sixteen,000 employees are supporting this protest. A group of soldiers guarding the constructing lowered their shields, “showing to facet with the protesters”. On 13 August, many lines of protesters demonstrating in solidarity in opposition to violence by the police have been observed, including hundreds of ladies wearing white.

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Three other presidium members, Svetlana Alexievich, Lilia Vlasova and Pavel Latushko, had been also summoned for questioning. Police appeared to be less tolerant of protests, rallies and strikes, actively breaking up strains of solidarity in Minsk and arresting leaders of strikes at state-owned enterprises.

A record of members was circulated on 17 August 2020 and embody Nobel Prize laureate Svetlana Alexievich. The first assembly of the Council occurred on 18 August and its leadership was elected the next day. On 27 August, Alexander Lukashenko asked the Russian authorities to lift a reserve pressure for deployment to Belarus if needed. The Government of Belarus declined a proposal from the heads of the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to visit Minsk to assist mediate between the federal government and the opposition.

The Belarusian Telegraph Agency issued a deceptive video purporting to indicate Belarusian protesters being violent. Pictures from Belarus were combined with photos from the 2019 protests in Catalonia.

Women and youngsters were allowed to depart the square however men had been prevented from doing so. Many of the individuals who have been dispersed from the demonstration on Independence Square continued to march by way of town, singing spiritual songs and chanting anti-government slogans. A pro-Lukashenko rally was held in entrance of the Belarus supermarket in Minsk, nevertheless it was ended abruptly by rain. On 24 August, presidium members of the Coordination Council, Sergei Dylevsky and Olga Kovalkova had been detained by the safety companies whilst attempting to assist putting staff at the Minsk Tractor Works manufacturing facility.

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Despite elevated police presence, teams of protesters had been still able to gather in Independence Square in Minsk, where they shouted “Leave” and in addition in Grodno and in Brest. Alexander Lukashenko issued a press release by which he threatened dismissal for varsity lecturers who do not observe “state ideology”. An worker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was fired after he had attended an anti-Lukashenko rally the earlier week with another Ministry employee. The Government of Lithuania handed a observe of protest to the Belarusian ambassador in Vilnius accusing the Belarusian armed forces of violating Lithuanian airspace by as a lot as three km yesterday. Belarus claimed that its air drive was trying to stop balloons depicting the previous flag of Belarus, which was described as an “anti-state symbol”, from crossing the border.

Demonstrations supporting Lukashenko occurred in Mogilev, Gomel, and Khotsimsk. During the pro-Lukashenko rally in Mogliev, a helicopter flew over the attendees with the state flag, while a large state flag was blown off the native authorities building the place it was hung. In Mogilev, one of many activists marching near the chief committee building was intentionally injured by a success-and-run driver, with no medically vital outcome. In a statement made on 18 August 2020, Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko stated that, “thus far, all enterprises in the actual sector of the financial system are operating normally, conveyors usually are not stopped anywhere.” On 17 August 2020, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya released a video by which she stated that she was prepared to steer a transitional authorities and arrange a new, free and honest presidential election.