Belarus: activists say over 200 arrests at demos in Minsk

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Protesters in Belarus

Photo: STRINGER / REUTERS

Despite police violence, thousands of people peacefully protested against ruler Alexander Lukashenko for the 15th time in a row in Belarus at a Sunday demonstration.

In the capital Minsk, people first gathered in their residential areas and then formed individual protest marches with the historic white, red and white flags of the opposition.

The police began making arrests at the beginning of the unauthorized gatherings.

The Wesna Human Rights Center published the names of more than 200 people arrested that afternoon.

Around 1,000 arrests were made on the previous two Sundays.

In other cities too, people again called for Lukashenko's resignation.

This time the action was officially announced as a "March against Fascism".

The organizers responded to the latest insults from Lukashenko that they were fascists.

The power apparatus gathered hundreds of hooded uniformed men from the Ministry of the Interior and the army in Minsk.

Prisoner trucks, water cannons and other heavy equipment were ready.

Flare and noise grenades were detonated as a deterrent, as can be seen in pictures on the Telegram news channel.

The Ministry of the Interior in Minsk confirmed the use of "special funds".

The large squares of the capital were cordoned off with metal bars.

The authorities temporarily shut down the mobile Internet again and blocked around ten metro stations for hours.

This should prevent people gathering.

The protests of the democracy movement have been going on for more than three months.

The movement also calls for an end to police violence against peaceful demonstrators, the release of all political prisoners and a new election.

Lukashenko claims victory in the presidential election on August 9 with 80.1 percent of the vote - after 26 years in office.

The opposition sees civil rights activist Svetlana Tichanowskaya as the winner of the election.

Tichanovskaya wants the special police to be declared a terrorist organization

Tichanovskaya, who lives in exile in the EU, wants the units of the Interior Ministry, including the OMON special police, to be declared "terrorist organizations" internationally.

The initiative has been initiated, she said after meeting EU politicians.

Criminal trials for crimes against humanity would also be prepared.

The protests have already resulted in several dead, hundreds injured and thousands arrested.

Lukashenko remains unaffected by the protests and the EU sanctions.

He can count on Russia's support.

In an interview with SPIEGEL, the Nobel Prize winner for literature, Swetlana Alexievich, spoke out in favor of tougher action by the West against "dictator" Lukashenko.

For example, Belarus could be excluded from the international banking system.

Like many members of the Coordination Council, the 72-year-old had left Minsk for a transfer of power.

She left for Berlin.

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mfh / dpa