The Interior
Ministry’s special units have started leaving the central squares in the
Belarusian capital.
MINSK, August 11.
/TASS/. The Belarusian law enforcement agencies are lifting the cordon in
downtown Minsk, a TASS correspondent reported from the spot on Tuesday.
After the
seven-hour-long clashes with protesters, police managed to squeeze them from
the streets. The Interior Ministry’s special units have started leaving the
central squares in the Belarusian capital.
One of the latest
hotbeds of clashes was the Kuntsevschina district, where the protesters had set
up barricades out of concrete piles and metal mountings, blocking Pritytsky
Avenue. One protester was killed there earlier. According to the Interior
Ministry’s press service, he "tried to throw an unidentified explosive
device at the law enforcement officers, but it exploded in his hand and the man
received fatal wounds."
On August 9, Belarus
held its sixth presidential election since declaring independence in 1991.
According to the country’s Central Election Commission, incumbent President
Alexander Lukashenko won 80.08% of votes. His closest rival, housewife Svetlana
Tikhanovskaya, scored 10.09% of votes. The other three candidates managed to
win less that to percent each.
After the exit poll
results were announced on Sunday night, mass protests flared up in downtown
Minsk and other Belarusian cities, which spiraled into clashes with police.
According to the Interior Ministry, some 3,000 people were detained and dozens
of police and protesters were injured.
On Monday evening the
protests resumed. The protesters tried to gather in downtown Minsk and after
the law enforcement officers dispersed the crowd, the groups of demonstrators
started moving to other areas in the city and setting up barricades out of
garbage bins.
Source: ITAR-TASS
11-08-2020
