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Tens of thousands of protesters gather near Hero City Minsk monument in central Minsk

The Belarusian capital city again reports problems with internet access

MINSK, September 13. /TASS/. Tens of thousands of people gathered near Minsk’s Victory Park and the Hero City Minsk monument for another rally to protests against the results of the August 9 presidential polls, despite law enforcers’ attempts to stop the rally, a TASS correspondent reported from the site.

According to the TASS correspondent, protesters continue to arrive to the site from different parts of the city where riot police tried to detain activists several hours ago.

By now, the avenue around the monument is filled with people.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko’s residence is located in vicinity and demonstrators used to march down to it during Sunday’s protests. This time however the protesters are refraining from moving in that direction.

Police have been reinforced in the area but no clashes or detentions have been seen so far.

The Belarusian capital city again reports problems with internet access.

Belarusian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova told TASS earlier the police had been tasked to prevent Sunday’s unauthorized rally. According to Chemodanova, about 250 people have already been detained in different parts of the city.

Grassroots protests have been held in Belarus since the August 9 presidential elections. According to the official results released by the Central Election Commission, the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, won 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, scored 10.12% of votes but refused to recognize the voting outcome. She soon left Belarus for Lithuania. In the first days, the rallies morphed into fierce clashes between the protesters and the law enforcement officers. The opposition is calling to continue protests while the authorities are demanding the end of illegal rallies.