Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters are marching towards Lukashenko’s residence, where, according to TASS, strong units of law enforcement, including armored personnel carriers, are concentrated.
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“Police cars arrived to transport the prisoners, people dispersed, one boy was detained. So far, it seems that the police do not want to allow (protesters) to form into marching columns, “wrote the server Tut.by. He added that several other people were detained by police at the Royal Plaza shopping center.
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Hundreds of people are still heading to the center. Police also detain protesters at one of the metro stations, the Kommersant newspaper said on its website. According to him, information about several detained participants in the unauthorized action has been confirmed by a police spokesman. According to her, the detainees will be transported to the station as part of administrative proceedings.
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Before Sunday’s “March of Solidarity”, operators reduced the speed of mobile internet at the request of the authorities. Also seven metro stations are closed. Units of law enforcement also arrived in the city center with armored personnel carriers.
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Footage from Saturday’s demonstration
Photo: Uncredited, ČTK / AP
The DPA wrote that before Sunday’s demonstration in Minsk, security forces began closing large squares in the morning. The Interior Ministry has issued a strong warning against participating in protests, not only in the metropolis but also in other Belarusian cities. At the same time, it threatened to use force against those who disobeyed this challenge.
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He rules for 26 years
Prior to Sunday’s protest, security measures in the city center were stepped up, TASS said, referring to a Interior Ministry spokesman. Law enforcement forces occupied the main square of Independence, where demonstrations had previously taken place, and the adjacent streets. Significant forces, equipped with armored vehicles and water cannons, are concentrated at the president’s residence.
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One week ago, more than 100,000 people demonstrated in the capital, according to the media. Similar major protests have taken place in the metropolis and other cities every Sunday since the August 9 presidential election.
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After the announcement by the authorities that Lukashenko, who has ruled the country hard for 26 years, won the August election with more than 80 percent of the vote, large-scale protests erupted in Belarus. Many Belarusians are convinced that this result is falsified. The opposition, like the EU, does not recognize it.
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Demonstrations, whose participants demand the departure of Lukashenko and new elections, continue through brutal police interventions and arrests.
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