The Minister of Health of Belarus Vladimir Karanik believes that the protests of doctors in Minsk were orchestrated. He announced this on Wednesday, August 12.
“It’s sad to see how a clearly orchestrated event is being passed off as a spontaneously arisen protest action by doctors,” Karanik is quoted by the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Health of Belarus.
The head of the department expressed regret that his colleagues “are being used to create a picture and provoke a forceful response from representatives of the internal affairs bodies.”
According to the minister, the organizers of the rallies are directing doctors to present the protests “as a spontaneous action: stand up straight, move aside, raise a poster, do not talk.”
He stressed that “the color and bloodthirsty picture did not work out” and none of the doctors was hurt. Kranik appealed to healthcare workers to prevent themselves from being dragged into a “game without rules.”
Earlier on Wednesday, as reported by the portal tut.by, a rally was held near the building of the medical university in Minsk with the participation of about 130 doctors, who said that they “are against violence.”
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, got 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 on both sides.