attend a demonstration in central Minsk on August 16, 2020. The
Belarusian strongman, who has ruled his ex-Soviet country with an
iron grip since 1994, is under increasing pressure from the streets
and abroad over his claim to have won re-election on August 9, with
80 percent of the vote. Sergei GAPON / AFP
Tens of thousands of Belarusians rallied in Minsk on
Sunday in the biggest demonstration yet against a disputed
election, as President Alexander Lukashenko rejected calls to step
down in a defiant speech.
Chanting “Leave!”, the protesters converged on a World War II
memorial outside the city centre, with an AFP journalist estimating
the turnout at up to 100,000 people, the largest yet in a week of
demonstrations since the vote.
Other major Belarusian towns and cities also saw large rallies,
local media reported.
Columns of demonstrators raised victory signs and held flowers
and balloons as they prepared to march to the central Independence
Square, the focus of peaceful demonstrations in recent days.
Those taking part in the “March of Freedom” included a group of
veteran paratroopers in uniform berets and a Catholic priest.
attend a demonstration in central Minsk on August 16, 2020.
Sergei GAPON / AFP
Demonstrators held placards with slogans such as “We are against
violence” and “Lukashenko must answer for the torture and
death”.
“This has never happened before, that Minsk has united,
Belarusians have united. This is a festival of freedom,” said
Catholic priest Yury Sanko, wearing his dark habit.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen the people so glad,” said one
70-year-old woman protester. “We’re tired of these authorities, of
living like serfs in a collective farm.”
Popular opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya had called
for a weekend of protests after leaving for neighbouring Lithuania
following the disputed election, which gave Lukashenko 80 per cent
of the vote.
More and more Belarusians have taken to the streets over the
last week to condemn Lukashenko’s disputed victory and a subsequent
violent crackdown by riot police and abuse of detainees.
– ‘Defend your country!’ –
Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet country for 26 years, is
facing an unprecedented challenge to his leadership.
In a rare campaign-style rally in front of flag-waving
supporters in central Minsk, the 65-year-old strongman said: “I
called you here not to defend me… but for the first time in a
quarter-century, to defend your country and its independence.”
Lukashenko’s press service said 50,000 people attended the
rally, though an AFP reporter put the number closer to 10,000.
Standing at a podium in a short-sleeved shirt, Lukashenko
insisted on the legitimacy of the presidential poll.
“The elections were valid. There could not be more than 80 per
cent of votes falsified,” he said.
He warned that neighbouring EU countries and Ukraine were making
calls for fresh elections.
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“We won’t give away the country!” he said, while his teenage son
Nikolai stood watching nearby.
– Kremlin ‘ready’ to help –
With pressure growing from the street and abroad after the
European Union said it would impose new sanctions, Lukashenko has
reached out to Russia.
Moscow said Sunday it was ready to provide military help if
needed.
The Kremlin said that in a call with Lukashenko, President
Vladimir Putin had expressed Russia’s “readiness to provide the
needed assistance” including “if necessary” through the CSTO
military alliance between six ex-Soviet states.
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets over the last week
to denounce the election result and support Tikhanovskaya, a
37-year-old political novice who ran after other potential
candidates including her husband were jailed.
A violent police crackdown on protesters saw more 6,700 people
arrested, hundreds wounded and two people dead.
From exile in Lithuania, where she fled on Tuesday,
Tikhanovskaya called for a weekend of peaceful rallies including
Sunday’s march in Minsk on the one-week anniversary of the
vote.
Thousands of opposition supporters had demonstrated in Minsk on
Saturday, with many gathering at the spot where a 34-year-old
protester died during unrest on Monday.
Many held up photographs of bruised protesters beaten during the
crackdown after Amnesty International accused authorities of
carrying out “a campaign of widespread torture” to crush the
opposition.
– Call for mass strikes –
The opposition has called for a general strike from Monday after
hundreds of workers at state-run factories walked off the job on
Friday, in a first sign that Lukashenko’s traditional support base
was turning against him.
European governments have condemned the election and police
crackdown, and EU ministers on Friday agreed to draw up a list of
targets in Belarus for a new round of sanctions.
Opposition newspaper Nasha Niva posted a video of the Belarusian
ambassador to Slovakia, Igor Leshchenya, saying he was “shocked by
stories of torture and beatings” and expressing his solidarity with
the protesters.
Tikhanovskaya has announced the creation of a Coordination
Council to ensure a transfer of power, asking foreign governments
to “help us in organising a dialogue with Belarusian
authorities”.
She demanded the authorities release all detainees, remove
security forces from the streets and open criminal cases against
those who ordered the crackdown.
She has said she will organise new elections if Lukashenko steps
down.
AFP