European Forum

Police in Belarus jails protesters after crackdown

On 5 July at least 140 people have been sentenced to short terms in jail or fined for taking part in anti-government protests in Belarus last weekend. Some 100 people were convicted in the capital and another 40 in other cities, including Brest, Homel, and Mahileu. Sentences included jail terms between 2 and 15 days, and fines of up to a million Belarusian rubbles (200 dollar) for those who escaped imprisonment.

On Sunday protesters gathered in Minsk and other Belarusian cities to voice their discontent with authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenka by clapping their hands. Opposition activists had launched a call on social-networking websites for Belarusians to mark Independence Day - a national holiday marking the end of Nazi occupation in 1944 - by holding peaceful "clapping" protests. However, the police arrested anyone who joined in the applause, beating activists and firing tear gas. According to Vyasna, a Belarusian human rights group, 210 people have been arrested in the capital Minsk and another 180 people were seized in other parts of the country.

In his speech on Sunday Lukashenko warned his opponents not to dream of the “colour revolutions” that swept other ex-Soviet states in the past. “We understand that the goal of these attacks is to sow uncertainty and turbulence, to destroy public consent, and, in the end, to bring us to our knees and to bring all the achievements of our independence down to zero. This is not going to happen,” the Belarusian president said.
 
The OSCE expressed “strong concern and regret over continued violence by the Belarusian authorities against their fellow citizens who intended to exercise their civil liberties and hold peaceful public demonstrations.” Audronius Azubalis, the OSCE chairman-in-office said in a press statement: “I urge the Belarusian government to release those detained, and further refrain from using violence against peaceful citizens and ensure respect for fundamental human rights and freedom.”

Sources: RFE/RL; Aljazeera; BBC                   Image: Flicker by zscout370