On Sunday a week ago Belarus witnessed the largest protests to date against President Lukashenko. Now there should be a new edition of the March of Freedom. But the power apparatus warns the democracy movement of a revolution and threatens.
Minsk (AP) - Two weeks after the controversial presidential election in Belarus (Belarus), the opponents of head of state Alexander Lukashenko come together for a new march of freedom in Minsk.
The start of the mass rally, including the demonstration, is scheduled for early Sunday afternoon. Tens of thousands of people are expected despite the rainy weather. On Sunday last week, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the capital for the largest protests in the history of the ex-Soviet republic. In other cities, too, there have been daily protests and strikes in state-run companies since the election on August 9th.
The presidential election, accompanied by allegations of unprecedented fraud, sparked the country's biggest domestic political crisis. After 26 years in power, Lukashenko, who has been decried as the "last dictator in Europe," won the presidential election for the sixth time in a row with 80 percent of the vote. Thousands of people protested against Lukashenko on Saturday in Minsk alone.
The opposition claims victory for the 37-year-old foreign language teacher Svetlana Tichanowskaja. She fled to the EU's neighboring country, Lithuania, fearing for her safety and that of her children. From there she tries to steer the democracy movement with video messages. The EU did not recognize the election following the fraud allegations and the subsequent police violence against peaceful demonstrators. Countries like Russia and China, on the other hand, congratulated Lukashenko on his victory.
The situation in the country has been tense since then - and not just because people feel cheated of their choice. Images of violence by uniformed people against citizens on the streets and in prisons also triggered widespread horror. There are dozens of videos and photos of badly abused people. Lukashenko described the vast majority of these images that went around the world as "staged".
However, dozens of doctors had shown the bodies covered with bruises and bloody welts and lacerations to the public. The state media do not report on it. There are hundreds injured who are suing the state. Dozens of Internet sites that contain eyewitness accounts are blocked in Belarus.
The number of deaths rose from three to four on Saturday. As the Wesna Human Rights Center announced, a 28-year-old father who had been missing since August 12 was found in a park. The cause of death was unclear.
With the support of the EU and Russia, the opposition has called on the power apparatus to engage in a dialogue to find a way out of the crisis. Lukashenko refused. During a visit to the armed forces in the Grodno area on Saturday, he once again made it clear that he sees the protests being controlled from abroad - from the EU and NATO neighbors Poland and Lithuania. He did not provide evidence, but also claimed that there were NATO troop movements directed against Belarus on the western border.
The head of state put the armed forces in full combat readiness - for the first time in his quarter of a century in power, he said. Lukashenko also appeared in Grodno at a rally in front of supporters. He warned of a revolution and said that in support of Tichanovskaya, NATO was ready to invade the country.
Defense Minister Viktor Chrenin also spoke of the possibility of an attempt to seize power in the country through armed violence. The leadership warned that in such a case, neighboring Russia would be on hand militarily.
Lukashenko's opponents accuse the ruler of stirring up new tensions in the country for no reason. It was said that he was playing the "military card" to distract attention from the political crisis and his electoral defeat. Many people fear that Lukashenko could establish a military dictatorship. He said several times that if necessary he would use the army to secure his own power.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200823-99-270872 / 2
Website of the Central Election Commission
OSCE on the election in Belarus
Official website of Lukashenko
Youtube channel of the opposition Strana dlja Schisni
Campaign by Svetlana Tichanovskaya
Human rights organization Wesna in Belarus
State Agency Belta