Belarus: 3000 detained, dozens injured as protests rock country after presidential polls

Police in Belarus arrested 3,000 people for staging protests after the country’s elections which took place on August 9, in which incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko retained his position with a landslide win. The interior ministry said in a recently released statement that 1,000 of the detentions took place in Minsk and the rest in other parts of the country. 

As per several reports, during the post-election protests, demonstrators in Minsk had lit flares, set up barricades, scattered nails and spikes on roads and thrown objects including stones at police. Fifty civilians and 39 police officers were wounded in the demonstrations in the capital of Belarus. The head of Belarusian Investigative Committee warned that the protesters who attacked law enforcement will face criminal charges, with them facing prison terms of up to 15 years.

Commenting on the protesters, the ministry said, some of the people taken to the medical institutions were intoxicated. The ministry, terming the protesters as perpetrators, also added that no military weapons were used against the demonstrators and there were no casualties.

As per several reports, the police used stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse thousands of people in support of opposition challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya after the elections. Although the ministry said that there were no fatalities, prominent rights group Viasna stated that a protester had been killed in the clash after suffering a head injury when he was hit by a police vehicle and doctors were unable to save him.

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Lukashenko wins Belarus Presidential Polls 

Lukashenko won a sixth term in the elections that took place on August 9 with 80.23 percent of the vote, the central electoral commission confirmed.  However, the opposition claimed that the results were rigged. Central electoral commission chief Lidia Yermoshina stated that Tikhanovskaya won 9.9 percent of the vote.

However, Tikhanovskaya rejected the results and demanded the authorities to transfer power to the opposition. During a news conference on August 10, Tikhanovskaya spoke on the election results and said that the voters made their choice but the authorities did not hear them. 

She also criticised the authorities for the clashes, saying police had used disproportionate measures and unfair means against protesters and termed disruptions to the internet a crime. Protests took place in 33 towns and villages across the country as citizens gathered on main squares and outside polling stations.

(Image credit: AP)

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