Police use bullying to scare off protesters :: Charter'97 :: News

Inga made a stack of pancakes, packed them in her bag, and sped to a tent camp in the city center, eager to provide homemade food to opposition activists. But her plans were cut short by beefy police officers who intercepted the 19-year-old student, locked her in a detention cell, and force-fed her all the food she had prepared.

“I was crying already after the third pancake, but they laughed and said, ‘Keep going! ’” said Inga, who declined to give her last name out of fear of being expelled from her university.

Despite widespread fears, Belarusian law enforcers have not taken any direct action to disperse demonstrators camped out in one of the capital’s central squares since Sunday, when authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko overwhelmingly won a third term in a vote the opposition and the West dismissed as rigged.

Instead, authorities reportedly have detained, harassed and otherwise intimidated scores of protesters - including support people such as Inga who keep the demonstration going by providing food, clothing and other necessities.

Irina Dorofeichuk, 36, a management teacher, was sentenced to seven days on charges of hooliganism after police officers accused her of cursing. The real reason, she says, is that she was carrying food and warm clothing to the protesters.

Residents of the tiny tent camp are feeling the authorities’ pressure in other ways. Lights on the usually festive square were turned off, prompting protesters to light their tent city with candles.

On Wednesday, city workers welded shut a sewage hatch that protesters had been using as a toilet. Many fear that this will make them more vulnerable to detention by police when the activists leave the camp.

After the results of Sunday’s election were announced, thousands of protesters thronged the square calling for a new vote - an unprecedented act in Belarus, which has a history of imprisoning opposition figures and violently breaking up rallies.