Belarusian authorities intensify pressure on protesters

Belarusian authorities intensify pressure on protesters

Minsk, Belarus (AP) – Authorities in Belarus on Tuesday, constant pressure on the protesters to withdraw the country’s authoritarian leader, arrested several opposition activists Summon another stimulus boosted to appear in court for questioning and selective ordering dozens of protesters. However, the protests continued. Courts in Minsk ranged from 10 days to two sets of members of a council that opposition activists last week was a transition of power following President Alexander Lukashenko win a sixth term in an election to negotiate that critics argue is It was rigged. Lukashenko has laid down the offers of dialogue, which was rejected by the Coordinating Council, which rejects the official results on August 9 vote that his 26-year rule extended. On Tuesday, members of Sergei and Olga Dylevsky Kovalkova Council were each sentenced to 10 days in jail for organizing at the expense of an unauthorized protest. Pavel Latushko, former culture minister and diplomat who joined the Council opposition, was summoned for questioning about his role in the opposition body. “They are trying to oust me in the country,” said Latushko The Associated Press. “I threatened to stop violence and prison, but do not leave ahead of Belarus.” most famous Belarus writer, Svetlana Alexievich, which in 2015 won the Nobel Prize in Literature, also received an adhesion subpoena after the council. Lukashenko has rejected the protesters who have been demonstrating for more than two weeks as Western puppets and threatened to create the council members with criminal charges groped for what he described as a parallel government. The prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation for undermining to the detriment of national security, a claim rejected by the Council. “The Coordination Council is to take the power to search,” said Latushko. “All we want is to try to find a solution to the political crisis.” On Tuesday, hundreds of university professors and researchers gathered in Minsk to show solidarity with the protesters, as the events of the day came 17th. That evening, several thousand gathered in the central square of independence, despite the rain, the press for the resignation of Lukashenko. “He put all against himself managed,” he said the 30-year-old Tatyana committed Gubarevskaya that turned for the meeting with her husband. “I have supported Lukashenko in the past, but now I see that his authority hinges entirely on the police, he stopped to listen to his people.” Lyudmila Krylovich, one of the leaders of the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society, said that “Lukashenko as feudal, people behave consider his property.” “Who let this happen?” She said. The protests erupted after official results gave Lukashenko a landslide victory with 80% of the votes. They were galvanized by the brutal action in the early days after the election, he was arrested when police nearly 7,000 people. Hundreds were injured, officials distributed as violently peaceful protesters with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs. At least three people died. The bodies of two other opposition supporters were found hanged in the woods. The police explained that the deaths were suicide, but the opposition, demand has denied. One of them, 28-year-old Nikita Krivtsov, was buried in the town of Molodechno on Tuesday, about 70 kilometers (about 45 miles) northwest of Minsk. He passed away on August 12 after she was taking part in the protests and his body found ten days later. His widow, Elena Krivtsova said a formal application to the Commission of Inquiry sent to start the nation’s top detective, a criminal investigation into his death. “I do not think Nikita would do yourself,” he told the AP. “It was a happy and positive person, was very fond of his daughter, had a good job and a decent salary. He never showed up thoughts of suicide.” Hundreds of opposition pan red-white flag of opposition supporters participate in its funeral. On August 18, the body of another opposition supporter, Konstantin Shishmakov found in a forest in the western part of Belarus was hanged. Shishmakov, who led a small military history museum in Volkovysk near the Polish border, was a member of an election commission, who spoke against alleged falsifications in the ballot on August 9. Local police said no evidence of a crime found, but the death has raised opposition suspicions foul. help swell the police raid fueled public anger, the number of protesters reached an unprecedented level of around 200,000 for two consecutive Sundays. The great masses forced the government to withdraw and allow the events for the last two weeks to go largely unchecked. In a show of defiance, the 65-year-old Belarusian leader has pulled an assault rifle when he arrived at his house with a helicopter on Sunday, while the protesters gathered nearby. After Lukashenko’s policies more difficult last week to the demonstrators, the police began reinforcing their presence on the streets and off of certain areas of the Belarusian capital. They detained at least five demonstrators in Minsk and five in the rest of the country on Monday after days of inactivity, a signal that the authorities may intervene again to force to end the protests. The Interior Ministry said Tuesday that it delivered more than 40 protesters in calling the day before. The Minsk police again arrested several protesters on Tuesday. Because the authorities hardened their position, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the largest opposition challenger in the vote on August 9, it confirmed for a new presidential election in a speech, press, delivered to the European Union via video link from Vilnius, capital of Lithuania . Belarus Supreme Court has rejected his request on Tuesday to explain the results on August 9 null vote. Tsikhanouskaya, a 37-year-old former English teacher who moved the day after the vote after the official press in Lithuania, said the dialogue with the Lukashenko government is ready. “Intimidation is not working,” he said. “Do not give up”. Tsikhanouskaya met Monday with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun in Vilnius, the US Thanks to the Belarusian people for support. Biegun last Tuesday discussed the situation in Belarus with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. The US embassy spokesman, Rebecca Ross, said on Twitter that Biegun “condemns the use of violence against the people of Belarus and support for Belarus led the sovereignty and the right of people to self-express. ” The United States and the EU must involve the Belarus election as neither free nor fair rejected and urged the authorities in a dialogue with the opposition. Russia, which a union agreement with Belarus envisages close political, economic and military, was standing by Lukashenko and warned the West against interfering in the affairs Belarus. Following the talks, Lavrov said Biegun warned that certain “circles in Poland and Lithuania” to normalize the situation in Belarus are unhappy and try to foment violence. ___ Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed. image
Copyright AP Photo / Sergei Grits