MINSK, December 13. /TASS/. More than 100 people were detained during Sunday’s protests in Minsk and other Belarusian cities, the Vesna unregistered human rights center reported.
The list of those detained posted on Vesna’s website includes 103 names. Most of them were detained in Minsk. Detentions were also reported from Brest, Smolevichi (Minsk region), Borovlyany (Minsk district).
In Minsk, protesters gather in groups of from several dozen to several hundred people in a number of residential quarters. After law enforcers dispersed the protesters they tried to gather in groups again.
On the 127th day of protests this Sunday, the authorities did not close metro stations and block mobile communication for the first time.
Nationwide demonstrations have engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. The current unrest is being cheered on by the opposition’s Coordination Council, which has been beating the drum for more protests. In response, the Belarusian authorities have castigated the ongoing turmoil and demanded that these unauthorized demonstrations be stopped. The biggest protests are held in Minsk and a number of other cities on Sundays.