Mass protests have been going on in Belarus for weeks - despite autumn weather and threats of violence from the authorities.
US Secretary of State Mike Pence has meanwhile spoken to Lukashenko on the phone.
Even more than two months after the presidential election in Belarus, the protests against President Alexander Lukashenko continue.
Despite threats of violence from the police, tens of thousands of people took to the streets on October 18.
The Interior Ministry spoke of more than 200 arrests.
Journalists were also apparently arrested.
This news ticker is updated regularly.
Update from October 25, 8:35 a.m.:
US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo
spoke
to the Belarusian President
Alexander Lukashenko on the
phone - and expressed the US support for the democracy movement in the Eastern European country.
As the State Department in
Washington announced
on Saturday, Pompeo also campaigned for the release of a US political scientist who
had been arrested
in
Belarus
.
Pompeo has insisted that the
scientist and campaign strategist Vitali Shkliarov be
released and allowed to leave the country, said a ministry
spokesman
.
Shkliarov was wrongly arrested.
According to his lawyer, the renowned political scientist of Belarusian origin was released from prison and placed under house arrest on Monday.
Shkliarov had advised former US President
Barack Obama
, US presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders
and other presidential candidates in Russia and Ukraine and was arrested in the run-up to the controversial Belarusian presidential election on August 9.
He is accused of having organized actions to disrupt public order.
According to his family and US officials, the political scientist was arrested solely for criticizing Lukashenko.
Tens of thousands against Lukashenko: New protests in Belarus - despite threat of violence
Update from October 18, 8:10 p.m.:
In Belarus,
more than
200 people were arrested
during the
mass protests against head of state Alexander Lukashenko
on Sunday
.
Although the authorities had previously threatened the use of firearms, tens of thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets again.
A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry
told the
AFP
news
agency
that the police used
rubber bullets against the demonstrators
when they threw stones at them.
Most of those arrested were taken into custody in the capital, Minsk.
Belarus: Tens of thousands against Lukashenko: New protests in Minsk - despite threat of violence
First report: Minsk
- Tens of thousands of people
demonstrated
in
Belarus
in a new
protest march against head of state Alexander Lukashenko
.
They marched through the capital Minsk on Sunday accompanied by a large contingent of police and military.
There were also actions in other cities.
The crowd shouted "Long live Belarus" and "Lukashenko in the prison car".
In Minsk and other Belarusian cities: Protest against Lukashenko - despite the threat of violence
More than 100 demonstrators were arrested at the demonstration, known
as the
“partisan
march
”
.
As a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry
told the
AFP
news
agency
, this was "so far" the situation. Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets again on Sunday against Lukashenko, even though the police had previously
threatened to use firearms
.
According to the human rights organization “Vyazna”, demonstrators were arrested not only in Minsk, but also in other cities in the country.
Local media also reported that their journalists had also been arrested.
Lukashenko under pressure: opponents demonstrate again by the thousands
From Minsk there were again pictures of many
military vehicles and prisoner transports
, which were published in the news channel Telegram.
The apparatus of power brought water cannons into position again.
The security forces blocked the streets with barbed wire and heavy equipment in the center.
There were also reports that security forces
fired
rubber bullets
into the air when demonstrators threw stones.
Unlike the earlier Sunday demonstrations by the opposition, the Lukashenko opponents did not march through the city center of Minsk this time, but demonstrated on a
main road in the south of the Belarusian capital
, where numerous factories are located.
Belarus: Protests Against Lukashenko - Metro Stations Closed, Mobile Internet Blocked?
Metro stations were closed so people couldn't easily get to the center.
In addition, the
mobile Internet
did not work at times.
The authorities want to prevent demonstrators from meeting via telegram and
videos of arrests from being
quickly distributed.
Nevertheless, individual sequences found their way onto the Internet.
Arrests and beatings in Gomel # Belarus #Belarusprotests #belarusinaction #PoliceBrutality #Gomel pic.twitter.com/0O8JWsck8t
- Belarus in action (@ positivehater1) October 18, 2020
It is now the
tenth consecutive protest weekend
.
The actions on Sundays are particularly popular.
The security forces had recently tightened their pace against demonstrators.
The Interior Ministry openly threatened the use of firearms and live ammunition.
The opposition, on the other hand, always calls for peaceful protests and condemns violence.
Belarus: Ten protest weekend in a row - Tichanovskaya announces continuation
Hundreds of
women and students
across the
country took
to the streets against Lukashenko on
Saturday
.
According to the Interior Ministry, there were almost 60 arrests.
There have been regular protests in Belarus
since the
presidential election on August 9th
.
The country is in a serious domestic political crisis.
After 26 years in power, Lukashenko had again been declared the winner with 80.1 percent of the vote.
The opposition, on the other hand, sees
civil rights activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya
as the real winner.
She fled to EU exile in Lithuania.
It also became known that the lawyer for the arrested
protest leader Maria Kolesnikova * had been
released from house arrest.
"That Ilya Salej is at home and not in custody is good news, and that is the result of our peaceful pressure on the regime," said Tichanovskaya.
However, the protests will continue until all political prisoners are free and there are new elections.
Are the fates of Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin linked?
You can find out more in this analysis at
Merkur.de
*.
(
dpa / AFP / fn
) *
Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network
.
