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Protests Broke Out After The Presidential election in Belarus
Belarusian police and protesters repeatedly clashed in many major cities shortly after the presidential election on 9/8.
The capital Minsk became chaotic when protesters shouted and cars kept whistle. In the downtown area, hundreds of riot police clashed with crowds of protesters.
According to a video from Radio Liberty, the police used stun grenades to suppress the crowd. Witnesses said nearly 1,000 police officers clashed with thousands of protesters over the weekend, with some of the extremists setting up barriers between the two sides.
Several opposition media outlets, including tut.by and Nasha Niva, reported that police rushed at protesters with trucks and sprayed cannons. A reporter from AFP also witnessed police stun grenades and shields when suppressing the crowd.
Many were injured and dozens more were arrested during the protests, but the Interior Ministry denied the casualty figures, according to the South China Morning Post.
Opposition in Belarus said the presidential election on 9/8 is in danger of fraud. According to a latest poll, longtime president Alexander Lukashenko will win the election with 79.7% of the total votes, securing a term in 6th position.
Lukashenko’s opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second with 6.8% of the vote. Tikhanovskaya said she does not believe in the official data, stressing that “most of the opposition” shares this view.
