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Belarus opposition to restart protests as crackdown widens
MINSK, March 25, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The opposition in Belarus called for
fresh demonstrations Thursday to breathe life into a protest movement against
strongman Alexander Lukashenko that fizzled this winter in the face of a
severe crackdown.
Rallies erupted in the ex-Soviet country last August after President
Lukashenko claimed a sixth term in a vote the opposition and Western
diplomats said was rigged.
Demonstrations took place weekly and lasted for months, ballooning to
crowds of some 100,000 at their peak, with Lukashenko’s iron grip on the
country of around 10 million people appearing to weaken.
But the movement was gradually stifled, with mass detentions that resulted
in hundreds claiming torture in custody.
Several protesters died during the months of unrest and convictions over
violations of public order have seen more than 400 people receive lengthy
jail sentences.
Now Lukashenko’s main challenger in the August vote, exiled opposition
leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, is hoping to spark new energy for protests as
winter gives way to spring.
“The whole world believes in you,” she wrote on her Telegram channel
Tuesday, calling on Belarusians to “take the future” in their hands and
“demonstrate this spring”.
The resumption of the protests will coincide with Freedom Day in Belarus,
which the opposition marks each year on the anniversary of the country’s
declaration of independence in 1918.
The Nexta Telegram channel, which mobilised and coordinated demonstrators
over the six months of rallies, called on drivers to sound their horns and
for people to set off fireworks in the evening.
– ‘Second wave’ of protests –
Tikhanovskaya, who fled to neighbouring EU member state Lithuania as a
crackdown began after the August vote, has lobbied foreign governments to
support her call for new elections in Belarus.
Western governments have slapped sanctions on Lukashenko and his allies and
say political novice Tikhanovskaya was the true winner of the vote.
The UN rights council called Wednesday on Belarus to halt its crackdown on
peaceful demonstrators and urged the UN rights chief to probe violations
related to the police crackdown.
But Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has held firm.
Backed by his ally Russian President Vladimir Putin, the rest of the
Belarusian strongman’s main opponents are either imprisoned or have fled too.
In a gathering of loyal cadres earlier this year, Lukashenko said he had
withstood a “colour revolution” directed by the West, a reference to revolts
that broke out in the early 2000s often in post-Soviet countries.
Belarus courts meanwhile have become conveyor belts for guilty verdicts
against protesters, activists and journalists charged with participating in
illegal mass events, with sentences ranging up to 10 years.
In the Belarusian capital Minsk, as well as in other cities across the
country, law enforcement has already said Thursday’s planned rallies are
illegal and protesters will face arrest.
But police are not expecting a big presence. Last week Deputy Interior
Minister Nikolai Karpenkov said he believed only a few dozen people would
take part.
“Many people do not take risks, even if they are very keen on changes,”
said Alexander Klaskovsky, a Belarusian political scientist.
“They understand the price can be too high.”
Nexta has also called for mass protests on Saturday too, calling it “the
day we start the second wave of street protests.”
“Get ready to return to your city centres,” Nexta wrote.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1154 hrs