Thousands of Belaruss demonstrate against Lucas again, dozens arrested

Thousands of protesters took to the streets again, flocking to Minsk in small groups to make it harder for police to work in other large cities.

Today, more than 120 protest strolls were organised in Minsk and other cities, and the number of demonstrators in each of those groups ranges from several decades to several hundred, Reuters reports, according to Austrian opposition media Nasha Niva.

The human rights group Vesna-96 ( Spring-96) announced that about 70 demonstrators had been arrested.

Police blocked Minsk's centre and used water cannons to disperse demonstrators, led by Vesna-96.

Unlike previous protests Sunday, authorities did not close subway stations in downtown Minsk today, nor did they block telephone traffic and internet access, according to AFP.

Protesters waved white and red flags, which are the symbol of the opposition, and called <x0thof Belarus! ”

Belarus has been hit by a political crisis since presidential elections on August 9th, when mass antigovernmental protests began throughout the country, initiated by official voting results, under which Lukashenko won more than 80 per cent of the vote. Lucas' opponents claim the elections had been stolen.

Opposition leader Svetlana Tihanovska, who fled to Lithuania immediately after elections to avoid arrest, praised today the courage of demonstrators, who, as she stated, did not withdraw “from oppression, violence and cold”.

The people of Belarus want to live in a democratic and free country,” said on Twitter Tikhanovska, who suddenly became Lucas' main rival in presidential elections following the arrest of other prominent opposition figures.

Despite the authorities' efforts to eliminate demonstrations by arresting and suppressing protesters and activists, mass protests were not extinguished after four months.

The most massive protests occur on Sunday, when tens of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets. One week there were 200,000 people.

Since the beginning of the demonstrations in August, at least four people have died either in protest or after the arrest. More than 30,000 protesters were arrested, of which thousands were beaten, according to human rights groups.

Lukaschenko, 66, who has been leading Belarus with a firm hand since July 1994, with oppression against opposition and independent media, has Russia's support, while accusing Western countries of inciting protests.