English

Thousands attend weekly anti-government protest in Minsk

 

A few thousand people defied the authorities' strict warnings, taking part in a "silent" protest in central Minsk on Wednesday evening to express discontent with Alyaksandr Lukashenka's policies, said BelaPAN.

In an attempt to abort the weekly protest, staged as part of an online campaign called "Revolution through Social Networks," the authorities sealed off Kastrychnitskaya and Liberty Squares, secured a heavy police presence in the vicinity of the venues and closed two subway stations. However, the protesters seemed undeterred, gathering in clusters around Kastrychnitskaya Square. The largest group filled the sidewalk in the section of Independence Avenue between Kastrychnitskaya Square and Lenin Street, while hundreds also gathered on the other side of the square - near the Belarusian State Circus - and on Lenin Street near Hotel Europe. Just like during similar protests on June 8 and 15, the crowds refrained from chanting any slogans or displaying banners. The protesters occasionally clapped, while the drivers of many of the passing cars honked their horns in support of the protest. Some of the drivers were pulled over by traffic police officers and fined for doing that.

Police officers pushed the protesters away from places adjacent to the square and most dispersed shortly after 8 p.m. However, riot police arrested some of the protesters in front of a McDonald's restaurant on Independence Avenue and on Nyamiha Street. A journalist overheard a police officer reporting that a total of 150 people had been grabbed. At least four reporters, including BelaPAN's cameraman Pavel Padabed, were apprehended. Mr. Padabed was forced to delete all videos made during the protest from his camera.

Police officers were seen removing metal barriers put around Kastrychnitskaya Square at about 8:30 p.m.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka revealed at a news conference on June 17 that he was aware of the online campaign. Mr. Lukashenka ridiculed "silent” protests staged across Belarus on June 15, describing a "typical" protester as a guy "of 16 or 17 with a cigarette in his teeth, and some girl, also a smoker, under his left arm like a log." He warned that the authorities would crack down on unsanctioned demonstrations.