Belarus: Reports of violent beatings and abuse started to flow in from protestors on Thursday, as the country’s president, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko deployed forces to detain the protestors in the capital city of Belarus.
Mr. Lukashenko, who has ruled the Eastern European country for 26 years was declared victorious in the presidential elections last Sunday. The opponents and international governments have claimed the elections to be fraudulent, which led to mass rallies of protestors getting onto the streets.
The riot police officers and military forces responded to the unarmed peaceful protestors with stun grenades and rubber bullets, which later got ugly with violent beatings on protestors. The mob of protestors had dozens of journalists, who later got detained by the forces, who when released claimed unlawful violent beatings and horrifying conditions in the crowded detention centers.
The local authorities worked at best to dismiss protest mobs off the streets, but peaceful rallies continued to protest against Mr. Lukashenko across the country.
As per NYT reports, 64 journalists were detained till last Sunday, out of which 7 had been severely beaten. Report of a death in custody was also lodged as of last Wednesday.
The establishment continues to quash the protest at best, while visuals and images of protestors flooded the internet from the country.