Hundreds of thousands of people in different parts of the country have been coming out to protest for many days, calling for the release of political prisoners and new elections. Potential new legal vulnerabilities could loom for Trump after losing White House, Postal worker recants claims of fraud cited by Trump campaign, top Republicans, Trump has history of calling elections 'rigged' if he doesn’t like the results, The Note: Biden opts out of Trump’s dangerous post-election game, Trump won't back down from legal war as money woes and infighting rage: Sources, Women march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Armored off-road vehicles equipped with machine guns were seen in Minsk for the first time in almost three months of protests, along with water cannon vehicles and other anti-riot equipment. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko's main challenger in the election, fled to Lithuania the day after the vote. AP’s Belarusian journalists were among those told their press credentials had been revoked. Several metro stations were closed, and mobile internet service did not work. They said the move was intended to stem the spread of the coronavirus, although officials previously accused neighboring countries of trying to destabilize Belarus. Lukasheno opponents have formed a Coordination Council to drive the protests and push for a transition of power. For the first time in the demonstrations, supporters of LGBT rights appeared with rainbow flags in the women's march in Minsk, an indication that opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko are becoming bolder. On Sunday, police acknowledged officers fired several warning shots into the air during the demonstration in Minsk “to prevent violations of the law," but maintained that “non-lethal weapons” were used. Watch CBS News anytime, anywhere with the our 24/7 digital news network. KYIV, Ukraine -- Thousands of women marched through the capital of Belarus on Saturday, calling for the resignation of the authoritarian president, and university students demonstrated against the detention of classmates during the wave of protests gripping the country for four weeks. The 66-year-old former state farm director, who was once nicknamed “Europe's Latest Dictator,” has relentlessly suppressed opposition and independent media in Belarus but struggled to quell the recent unrest. “We haven't forgotten our past, we won't forget what is happening now.”. She accused Lukashenko of stealing the election and asked the U.N. to condemn the crackdown on protesters, send a monitoring mission to Belarus and call a special session of its Human Rights Council to discuss the situation in the country. Meanwhile, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko insists he isn’t going anywhere. Protests took place after some previous elections that Lukashenko won with lopsided margins, but this year's have been by far the largest and longest-lasting. Up to 20,000 people took part in the rally, the Viasna human rights center estimated. On Saturday, one of its most prominent members, Olga Kovalkova, surfaced in Poland after being jailed in Belarus for organizing protests. Authorities also have revoked the accreditation of many Belarusian journalists and deported some foreign journalists, including two Moscow-based Associated Press journalists. Demonstrators carried banners reading, “The people's memory (lasts) longer than a life of a dictatorship” and “Stop torturing your people!”. Starting Sunday, all foreigners — with the exception of diplomats, government officials, individuals with permits to work in Belarus and people in some other narrow categories — were banned from crossing the country's land borders. The crowds directed chants of “Go away!" Belarus now witnesses the largest protests since the 1990s following rigged presidential elections. About 5,000 women took part in the march, according to the human rights organization Viasna. Minsk — There have been 21 days of non-stop protests in Belarus, ... CBSN: 24/7 Live Stream watch. She issued a statement Sunday in support of the ongoing protests. Follow AP’s coverage of Belarus at https://www.apnews.com/Belarus, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. (AP Photo). Up to 20,000 people took part in the rally, the Viasna human rights center estimated. One more activist on the Council, Denis Gotto, was detained during Sunday's demonstration. Tsikhanouskaya entered the presidential race instead of her husband, a popular opposition blogger, after he was jailed in May. Lukashenko scoffed at suggestions of dialogue with the opposition and instead intensified the crackdown on protesters, ordering officials to expel students from universities for participating in demonstrations and to take action against plant workers that go on strike. Women march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. This weekend saw 200,000 opposition demonstrators protesting in Minsk, in addition to major rallies in city across the country. Viasna said about 20 of the students were detained Saturday. On Thursday, the government shut Belarus’ borders with Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Stream CBSN live … Foreigners, however, are allowed to travel into Belarus via the Minsk National Airport. Large protest crowds have assembled in the streets of Minsk and other cities almost daily, despite police countering the demonstrations with water cannons, stun grenades, rubber bullets and mass detentions. Police detained over 250 people in Minsk and other Belarusian cities where protests were held Sunday, according to the Viasna center. The poster in the center reads "proud to be Belarusian". Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report. All prominent members at the helm of the opposition’s Coordination Council, which was formed to push for a transition of power, have either been jailed or left the country. “The authorities are trying to close the lid on the boiling Belarusian pot more tightly, but history knows very well what this leads to,” Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski said. at Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who won his sixth term in an Aug. 9 election that is widely seen as rigged. Marches and demonstrations by women have become a frequent feature of the protests, which broke out Aug. 9 after the election in which Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, was officially tallied with an 80% landslide victory. Thousands of protesters in Belarus swarmed the streets of the capital to demand the resignation of the country's longtime president for the 13th straight Sunday and encountered police using stun grenades to break up the crowds and making warning shots in the air from what authorities said were “non-lethal weapons.”. On Friday, she addressed the U.N. Security Council via video link, asking it to “stop blatant human rights violations and cynical disregard for human dignity right in the middle of Europe.”. “LGBT people are calling for freedom. Women's marches and demonstrations have become a regular feature of the four weeks of protest that have shaken Belarus following a disputed election that gave Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. Earlier in the day, hundreds of students formed human chains to demonstrate against the detention of students at the State Linguistics University. Over 15,000 people have been detained since the presidential election, and human rights activists have declared more than 100 of them to be political prisoners. “The terror is happening once again in our country right now,” Tsikhanouskaya said. Police followed the march, but no detentions were reported. This content is not available in your region, Belarus: Police break up crowds as anti-Lukashenko protesters take to streets again, Demonstrators with old Belarusian national flags march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, Watch live: Boris Johnson faces opposition leader Keir Starmer at PMQs, Hungary's government proposes draft legislation to ban adoption for same-sex couples, Four killed, 1 missing after Turkish fishing boat collides with Greek tanker. Several journalists were among the detainees, and many of those detained were beaten up, human rights activists said. The Belarusian Interior Ministry threatened to use firearms against the rally-goers “if need be." Masked police then drove her to the border, she said. According to the live stream from Radio Svaboda, ... We’re back covering the second week of opposition protests in Belarus. We are tired of living in a dictatorship where we simply didn't exist,” Anna Bredova, one of the rainbow flag bearers, told The Associated Press by phone. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Authorities haven't allowed any LGBT organization legal registry; same-sex marriage is prohibited.
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