In Belarus, protest actions of dissatisfied with the results of the presidential elections have moved from the center of Minsk to the sleeping areas of the city. On Tuesday, August 11, TASS reports.
According to the agency, the security forces began to disperse the protesters in the Malinovka area in the southwest of the Belarusian capital. About 300 people gathered on Dzerzhinsky Avenue and chanted: “Go away.”
OMON is working at the site of the unauthorized action. Security officials in full gear with shields moved along the avenue towards the Malinovka metro station. There were sporadic detentions. The protesters were hiding from law enforcement officers in the nearby Pavlov park.
After some time, the law enforcement forces were able to completely take control of the situation in the area. According to the agency’s correspondent, the sounds were heard from the shots of rubber bullets.
In addition, about 350 people gathered in the Uruchye microdistrict on the western outskirts of Minsk. The police are in the area, but the detentions are still sporadic. At the intersection of Pushkin Avenue and Ponomarenko Street, young people are trying to build a barricade.
The use of rubber bullets by riot police to disperse protesters in Minsk was previously reported by “Sputnik Belarus”. with reference to eyewitnesses.
Earlier on Tuesday, clashes between security officials and citizens began in Brest. Riot policemen use truncheons in response to strikes of citizens on shields.
Mass protests have been taking place in Belarus since August 9, on that day, presidential elections were held in the country. The current head of state Alexander Lukashenko, according to the CEC, received 80.08% of the vote, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was supported by 10.09% of voters. Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters did not recognize the results of the vote.
After that, people who disagreed with the election results began to take to the streets. They are opposed by the security forces. In the clashes, there are casualties from both sides.