According to the Belarusian Interior Ministry, there were no major protests. A spokesperson said there were only “a few small groups with unregistered symbols.” This refers to the use of the prohibited white-red flag. The opposition is using this old Belarus flag as a protest against the regime.
Opposition leader Tikhanovskaya writes Twitter that today’s police action shows that the Lukashenko regime is behaving “lawlessly”.
Evidence of human rights violations
After the presidential elections of 9 August, in which large-scale fraud was committed according to the opposition and the European Union, tens to hundreds of thousands of Belarusians went into the street to demand the departure of President Lukashenko. Last winter, there were no more major protests as a result of the repression. However, the opposition is hoping that the mass protest will flare up again this spring.
A group of mainly European countries, including the Netherlands, has this week a human rights platform established to collect evidence of police brutality and human rights violations in Belarus. In the future, the countries hope to prosecute those responsible for the violence at the International Criminal Court or possibly a Belarusian tribunal.
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