For the eleventh consecutive Sunday, tens of thousands of people they demonstrated in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and in other cities of the country to demand the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and accused of fraud during the disputed presidential elections last August. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the opposition and Lukashenko’s main challenger in the elections, said that if the president does not resign by 23:59 tonight, the national strike will begin tomorrow. Lukashenko has given signals that he does not intend to respect the ultimatum.
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About 200 protesters were arrested across the country, including two journalists before the protests began. The police were deployed in riot gear, equipped with water cannons, and fired rubber bullets into the air as a warning to protesters throwing stones at the officers. Thirteen metro stops in Minsk were closed and the internet was suspended.
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