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Alexander Lukashenko: "If someone touches a member of the military, he must at least walk away without his hands"
Photo: Sergei Sheleg / imago images / ITAR-TASS
The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko threatened protesters with harsh words.
"If someone touches a member of the military, he must at least walk away without his hands," Lukashenko said on television.
Nevertheless, hundreds again demonstrated against the head of state before the weekend.
"We will not take any prisoners," said the controversial head of state at a meeting with leading representatives of the security forces.
"We will not retreat," said Lukashenko.
That also applies to him personally.
"The president has never fled anywhere and is not planning to," he said, referring to the opposition's calls for resignation, which have called for new protests on Sunday.
Since Monday, the opposition has been calling for general strikes to force Lukashenko to resign.
Opposition leader Svetlana Tichanowskaja had previously announced the strikes in an ultimatum with which she wanted to persuade Lukashenko to withdraw.
Pensioners, factory workers, doctors, teachers, students, directors, actors, IT staff and operators of cafes and shops have joined the campaign.
But most of the state-owned companies continue to function.
Tichanovskaya: "We will not let the future of our country be ruined"
Since the controversial re-election of Lukashenko on August 9th, there have been regular mass protests in Belarus.
The opposition accuses him of electoral fraud, which he rejects.
More than 16,000 people have already been arrested.
United Nations investigators have reported beatings and torture and the West has imposed new sanctions.
Lukashenko, backed by Russia, has been in power for 26 years.
According to media reports, demonstrators recently gathered in front of several universities.
In the capital Minsk, more than 100 people gathered in front of a school after an arrest there the day before.
"Support students and teachers. Remind the regime: We will not let the future of our country be ruined," Tichanovskaya said in a statement.
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mfh / Reuters / AFP