Protesters In Minsk Disbanded By Force, Arrested :: Charter'97 :: News

Today’s protest action in Minsk with a demand of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s resignation ended in forcible dispersal and arrests. Several thousands of policemen, SWAT, riot policemen and internal security troops were employed for a crackdown on the protest action.

The mass protest action started at 3 p.m. in Kastrychnitskaya (October) Square in Minsk. Vendors, representatives of the United Civil Party and Andrei Klimov’s movement, youth activists, common citizens were gathering on the square. The protesters publicly stated their first demand, an immediate release of political prisoners. The individual entrepreneurs were holding portraits of arrested leaders of the vendors’ movement – Valery Levaneuski, Alyaksandr Vasilyeu, Anatol Shumchanka, former minister and diplomat Mikhail Marynich.

However, as soon as people started to assemble on the square, it was cordoned off by policemen and SWAT officers, who forced away the protesters from the square harshly. Because of a jam, a repetition of the Niamiga tragedy could have occurred. A human rights activist, leader of the Civil Initiative “Veterans for Democracy” Valery Schukin was carried out of the crowd in arms, as he had fallen in a faint.

The clash between the SWAT and demonstrators on the October Square moved to Skaryna Avenue. The protesters and law-enforcers blocked the sidewalks on the both sides of the street from the October Square to the City Department Store. The number of the participants reached has almost 2,000. People were chanting “Long live Belarus!”, “Freedom!”, “Down with Lukashenka!”, “Belarus to Europe!” People had national white-red-white flags in their hands. Many protesters where holding little European flags.

All the entrances of the metro station were blocked. Clients of the “Central” supermarket and McDonalds could not exit and had to wait inside.

For more than half an hour the participants of the action tried to infiltrate back to the square. The most active protesters were seized away from the crowd, encircled by a great number of policemen and taken away. The portraits of political prisoners and slogans were tattered by policemen...

In the same way the people were pushed away to Lenin Street. The participants of the action started to fling snowballs to the SWAT policemen. The melting snow could hardly do any harm to the policemen in helmets, but they grew really wild. The leadership of the SWAT ordered: “Go ahead, f*** you!” (The Charter’97 reporter heard these words herself). The officers went off at a dash, brandishing rubber batons like sabres. The protesters were partially detained during the dispersal.

Those who managed to escape continued the march. In the park on the Svaboda Square a former MP of the 13th Supreme Soviet Andrei Klimov had made an attempt to deliver a speech. He demanded to release the political prisoners, and urged people to remember about the assassinated leaders of opposition – vice-speaker of the Supreme Soviet Henadz Karpenka, former vice-Prime Minister Viktar Hanchar, ex-Minister of the Interior Affairs Yuri Zakharanka, a businessman and public figure Anatol Krasouski, a journalist Dzmitry Zavadski. The people were chanting: “Resign!”, Long live Belarus!”, “Freedom”.

The meeting lasted for about 10 minutes, and after that the SWAT disbanded it as well. People were forced away to Masherov Avenue. From time to time people were snatched out from the crowd and put into police buses.

On Masherov Avenue in front of the Palace of Sport the remaining several hundreds of activists held a short rally, and then tried to return back to October Square. The column of demonstrators was intercepted by the SWAT policemen. Demonstrators were driven away to the bank of the Svislach River and dispersed.

A total of more than two dozens of people were detained today. Many of them were beaten up. All detainees are kept in the police department of the Tsentralny district.

Photo: photo.bymedia.net