Belarus leader blames US for chaos, vows to end protests
MINSK, Belarus — Authorities in Belarus detained a leader of striking factory workers and threatened demonstrators with criminal charges Friday in a bid to stop the massive post-election protests challenging the country's authoritarian president, who accused the United States of fomenting the unrest.
Investigators also summoned several opposition activists for questioning as part of a criminal probe into a council they created with the goal of coordinating a transition of power for the ex-Soviet nation that President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled with an iron fist for 26 years.
Protesters are demanding that Lukashenko resign, accusing him of stealing a sixth term in office by rigging the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election. Many are fed up with sinking living standards and the lack of opportunities under Lukashenko, and their disgust grew deeper as he dismissed the coronavirus pandemic and refused to order a lockdown.
Unfazed by government threats, thousands of demonstrators on Friday formed “chains of solidarity” across the capital of Minsk before marching to the central Independence Square as post-election protests entered their 13th straight day. Motorists honked and slowed down to block traffic in a show of solidarity.
“I have come through the hell, they were beating me without stop for two days,” said Artyom Progin, an artist whose legs have black marks from police clubs. “Bruises and scratches will heal, but the memory of these crimes will last.”
The 65-year-old leader blamed the U.S. for instigating the protests that started on election night and intensified after officials declared him the winner with 80% of the vote.
“The U.S. is planning and directing everything, and the Europeans are playing up to it,” Lukashenko said while visiting a state farm Friday.
The United States on Thursday described the Belarus presidential election as neither free nor fair and urged authorities to engage in a dialogue with the opposition council. European Union leaders are preparing sanctions against Belarusian officials.
Speaking to agricultural workers, Lukashenko bluntly rejected Western offers to mediate between his government and the opposition, telling the U.S. and the EU to mind their own business.
“They should sort out their own affairs first," he said.
Belarus’ Interior Ministry said Friday that Yevgeny Bokhvalov, who organized a strike at the huge Minsk Automobile Plant, was detained, but gave no further details. Workers at the factory manufacturing heavy trucks have been on strike since Monday to push for Lukashenko's resignation, as have workers at many other industrial plants across the country.
The strike committee at the giant Belaruskali potash factory in Soligorsk said agents from state security agency KGB detained one of the organizers of the walkout, Dmitry Kudelevich, but he managed to escape through a toilet window and fled to neighboring Ukraine.
The labor action has presented a tough challenge for Lukashenko, who has relied on blue-collar workers as his core support base for decades. He has warned that strikers could be fired and ordered law enforcement to protect factory managers from opposition pressure.
“Most of all, Lukashenko fears the factory workers’ protest, so he tries to scare strike organizers and stop the strikes,” said Sergei Dylevsky, the leader of the strike-organizing committee at the Minsk Tractor Plant.
Dylevsky, a member of the opposition Coordination Council, was summoned for interrogation along with another council member, lawyer Maxim Znak.
“Even if they arrest us, it will not stop the protests and make Lukashenko look legitimate,” Dylevsky said.
The Prosecutor General’s office has opened a criminal probe into the creation of the Coordination Council, charging it violated the constitution and threatened national security. The council members have rejected the accusations and insist their actions fully comply with Belarusian law.
The council has called for a new presidential election organized by a newly formed election commission, as well as for an investigation into the protest crackdown and compensation for victims of police violence.
In a bid to stem the daily demonstrations, Belarus Prosecutor General Alexander Konyuk on Friday warned that participants in unsanctioned protests could face criminal charges.
During the first four days of post-election protests, police detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs. At least three protesters died and scores displayed serious bruises from police beatings. On Friday, the state Investigative Committee opened an inquiry into the claims that police raped women in custody.
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