Iran Press/ Europe: "We took measures to stop unlawful actions. Law enforcement agents will continue taking all steps to prevent any unlawful actions by protesters," he said, commenting on the police actions during the Sunday protests.
According to Kubrakov, "more aggressive and active protesters traveled to Minsk" on Sunday. "They had one goal to seize the center of Minsk, or Independence Avenue with all its squares, to be precise. However, their plots failed to materialize," he noted.
"Officers of the interior affairs agencies were in control of everything, and the crowd of protesters failed to make it to the Independence Square," he added.
On Sunday, Belarus was seeing protest rallies under the slogan of the ‘national ultimatum’. Power structure officers used special equipment in Minsk to disperse people taking part in a large protest. The move came after the demonstrators tried to reach the residence of incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and were stopped.
Law enforcement agents detained 290 people in Sunday protest rallies in Belarus, unregistered human rights center Vesna reported.
Most detainees are reported in Minsk and Grodno. The protests also took place in Brest, Bobruisk, Vitebsk, Borisov, Mogilev, Pinsk, Polotsk, and other cities. Journalists are among the detainees.
Nationwide demonstrations have engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election.
According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot.
However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police.
The current unrest is being cheered on by the opposition’s Coordination Council, which has been beating the drum for more protests. In response, the Belarusian authorities have castigated the ongoing turmoil and demanded that these unauthorized demonstrations be stopped.
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