Belarusian police have arrested more than 400 people during another day of protests against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Marches were held Wednesday in most major cities, including Grodno, where witnesses say police grabbed people by their hair and clothes and threw them into vans. Women and children were among those arrested. Several journalists were also […]
Belarusian Police Arrest Hundreds of Protesters
Belarus Sentences Anti-Lukashenko Protesters
Belarus on Monday sentenced at least 20 people to jail for up to 15 days for protesting against the authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko. Authorities in the one-time Soviet state arrested nearly 400 people Sunday as the country marked its 1944 liberation from Nazi occupation. Plain-clothes security officers drifted through the crowd in Minsk […]
Belarus Arrests Independence Day Protesters
Police in Belarus have arrested a number of opposition protesters for disrupting an Independence Day speech by President Alexander Lukashenko. The protesters, who organize via online social networking, started clapping as the president began his speech in the capital, Minsk. The government blocked access to several social networking web sites on Sunday in response to […]
Belarusian Police Detain Protesters
Belarusian police violently dispersed a peaceful anti-government rally Wednesday in the capital Minsk. Local rights activists said more than 100 people had been arrested, including journalists. Witnesses say they saw police beat demonstrators with batons. Hundreds of people defied official warnings and torrential rain to protest the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko and the […]
Russia Cuts Electricity To Belarus
Russia has cut electricity supplies to Belarus due to unpaid back payments. The Russian electricity provider, InterRAO , promises power will be restored within 24 hours of when the payment is made. Russian power imports account for approximately 10 percent of Belarus’ electrical needs. Mounting economic struggles have forced Belarus, a former Soviet state, to […]
Belarus PM Pledges to Repay Electricity Debt to Russia
Belarus Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich says his country will repay the country’s electricity debt to Russia by next Tuesday. Mr. Myasnikovich said Thursday that energy officials of the two countries have agreed that Belarus will repay its $53 million debt to Russia for April and May electricity supplies by June 28. Russia has threatened to […]
Belarus Authorities Detain More than 450
Belarus authorities rounded up more than 450 people who responded to anonymous Internet-based calls for anti-government rallies across several cities. Thousands turned out for the Wednesday night demonstrations, marking their protests by clapping their hands while walking down city sidewalks. Most of those detained were released on Thursday, but at least 20 were taken to […]
Belarusian Police Detain Wednesday Protesters
Belarusian police detained scores of demonstrators at a protest rally against President Alexander Lukashenko in the capital Minsk Wednesday night. Protesters clapped their hands as cars driving slowly down the main streets, sounded their horns in support of protesters. Special police forces rounded up groups of activists in central Minsk and drove them away in […]
Russia Moves to Cut Off Electricity to Belarus
Russia is threatening to suspend supplies of electricity to Belarus if that country does not pay its bills. Belarus is battling a severe currency crisis, and has seen the value of its money fall by 36 percent. The Russian state-controlled power group InterRAO said it would stop the flow of electricity on Monday, June 27, […]
EU Imposes Additional Sanctions on Belarus
The European Union has imposed additional sanctions on Belarus, in reaction to the government’s protracted crackdown on political dissidents and activists. European foreign ministers added three companies and several people directly linked to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, including arms tycoon and Lukashenko adviser Vladimir Peftiev and his companies. It is the first time the EU […]