Over 900 Protesters Detained in Belarus

As a result of Sunday’s protests in Belarus, more than 900 demonstrators were detained in Minsk and other cities, the Viasna Human Rights Centre reports.

In particular, Belarusian model, Miss Belarus 2008 Olga Khizhynkova; silver medalist of Beijing Olympic Games, athlete Andrey Kravchenko; kickboxer Ivan Ganin; and others were detained. Among others, historian and linguist, candidate of philological sciences Ales Zhlutka was jailed in Minsk. Since 1996, Zhlutka has been the oldest research associate at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

On Sunday, all stations of the 3rd line of Minsk metro were closed for the purpose of “passenger safety,” and mobile operators, already by tradition, “restricted” access to the mobile Internet.

In addition to reports from the capital, detentions have been recorded in Lyakhavichy, Gomel, Babruysk, Pinsk, Zhlobin, Vitebsk and other populated localities.

To recap, the mass protests against the falsification of the results of the 9 August presidential election, in which Alexander Lukashenka was declared the winner, continue in Belarus. Lukashenka recently accused Lithuania and Poland of financing strikes. Sunday’s rally was the thirteenth since the presidential election.

Natalia Tolub