president Alexander Lukashenko spoke by telephone Saturday with his Russian counterpart, in the movement of protest against his disputed re-election.
thousands of demonstrators gathered again on Saturday in Minsk in the wake of an increasing mobilization against the re-election of president Alexander Lukashenko, who met with his counterpart and ally Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation. In the early afternoon, thousands of people converged towards the subway station Pouchkinskaïa, to the west of the capital, to pay tribute to a man who died nearby during a protest last Monday.
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“No to violence!”, “Long live Belarus”, chanted the protesters, carrying flowers or making the “V” for victory, has found an AFP journalist. At the same time, between 500 and 700 people gathered in silence with the family of the deceased around the casket, which was exhibited in another district of Minsk.
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The main candidate of the opposition in the presidential election, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, was a refugee in Lithuania, had called for peaceful demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday across the country. “I came to protest against this injustice embodied here,” said Viktor, 42 years old, present at the tribute.
Call to Putin
For his part, president Lukashenko discussed in the day by phone of the events in progress with Vladimir Putin, said the State agency Belta. A few minutes before this call, the president Lukashenko had announced in a meeting to want to meet with Putin to discuss the “threat” aimed, according to him, his country and “our region”.
“The two parties expressed their confidence in a resolution of current problems” in Belarus, said in a press release the Russian presidency, after the telephone interview. The head of State, belarus has, in particular, argued that the protests were putting at risk the Union between Russia and Belarus, an intergovernmental union between the two countries. According to Alexander Lukashenko, his country faces a “color revolution” – the name given to several uprisings in the ex-USSR over the past 20 years – with the “elements of external interference.”
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The day before, the european Union had given its approval to new sanctions against the responsible belarusian linked to the suppression or electoral fraud. These sanctions come at a time when the mobilization was extended on Thursday and Friday in Belarus: human chains and rallies against the violence and fraud have flourished across the country, while factory workers iconic have launched solidarity actions and walkouts.
Unlike the protests of the beginning of the week, violently repressed, these actions were carried out without clashes and mass arrests, the belarusian authorities have shown signs of decline. These last have announced the release of more than 2000 of the 6700 people arrested during the protests.
president Lukashenka has even called on Friday to a “restraint” against protesters, whom he had called “sheep” who had to “put the brain in place.” Accusing the regime of a “massacre”, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, who claimed the victory at the presidential election on 9 August, has announced the creation of a committee to organize the transfer of power and called for a dialogue with the authorities.
Evidence of torture
Since Sunday night, Belarus was the scene of a wave of protests on an unprecedented scale against the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko, in power for 26 years in this ex-soviet republic. His victory officially with 80% of the votes – was seen as largely forged so that a huge mobilization in favor of its rival, unexpectedly, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, had inflamed the Belarus before the election.
READ ALSO >> Belarus : “The power uses arbitrary violence and” preventive
This last, officially credited with 10% of the vote, denounced massive fraud. The first four nights of protests had been matées by the riot police, killing at least two people dead and 150 injured still hospitalized Friday.
people who have been freed have told AFP of the conditions of detention atrocious. Deprived of water, food and sleep, beaten or burned with cigarettes, they were imprisoned by the dozens in cells intended for four or six.
Support from Moscow
a Novice in politics, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, 37 years, English teacher training and at-home mom, has left Belarus after having been subjected to threats of power, according to his supporters. Her husband, she was replaced at short notice in the race for the presidency, has been imprisoned since may. Many western States have condemned the violence and denounced fraud.
The power belarus received support from Moscow, which denounced the attempts of”foreign interference” aimed at destabilizing the situation in the republic of Belarus, an ally of the historical Russia, in spite of recurring tensions between the two countries in recent years. The head of the belarusian State had accused Russia of wanting to reduce his country to the status of vassal and of interfering in the election of August 9 in favour of its opponents.
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presidential Election in Belarus
Belarus: EU gives green light to new sanctions The dispute extends in Belarus : walkouts in factories and calls for a protest Belarus : “The power uses arbitrary violence and” preventive
Alexander Lukashenko, 65 years, never let any opposition take root. The previous wave of protests, in 2010, had also been severely repressed.
