MINSK, August 16. /TASS/. Belarusian Interior Minister Yuri Karayev said on Sunday the police did not use lethal weapons when dispersing protests in the country.
In an interview with tut.by, a web media outlet, he promised to investigate all the cases when excessive violence had been used by the police.
"Escalation was on both sides," he said. "When colleagues are knocked down, one may lose temper. It is wrong and I am against it. It should not be this way. We will probe into each of such case. Not right now, but when the situation calms down."
When asked about the death of a protester, Karayev said he was not an investigator. "Yes, he (the protester - TASS) died," the minister said. "But how many people did die during riots in America? But we did not use firearms, we used only nonlethal weapons."
On August 9, Belarus held its sixth presidential election since declaring independence in 1991. According to the final results of Sunday’s voting, the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, won 80.1% of the vote. His closest rival, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, scored 10.12% of votes. However, she did not recognize the results of the voting.
Mass protests and clashes with police took place in Minsk and other Belarusian cities on Sunday night into Monday morning after exit poll results were made public. Rallies continued for several days. As a result, several thousands of people were detained, dozens of law enforcers and demonstrators were injured. One man was killed in central Minsk.