How much tears do you need to see?
Belarus is gripped by mass protests, triggered by an election widely believed to have been rigged in favour of the long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko.
The scale of the protests is unprecedented for Belarus. More than 100,000 have packed into central Minsk, the capital, for four consecutive Sundays since the disputed 9 August election.
The interior ministry later confirmed that there had been arrests, saying those being held had been “disturbing public order and resisting police officers,” but it did not give any numbers.
Opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko have staged regular protests since August, accusing him of rigging the election to extend his 26-year grip on power. He denies electoral fraud and has refused to resign.
People first gathered in residential areas in Minsk and then formed protest marches, carrying historic white-red-white flags, following the instructions of protest organisers to make it more difficult for police to control crowds.
The capital’s large squares were cordoned off with metal bars, pictures shared on a Telegram news channel showed.
Hundreds of security forces, including army members, were gathered in Minsk, with prisoner transporters, water cannon and other heavy equipment at the ready.
Authorities also restricted mobile internet services and blocked several metro stations to prevent mass gatherings.
Sunday’s marches were labelled a “March Against Fascism,” a response from the organisers to recent insults by Lukashenko that they were fascists.
Police dispersed peaceful demonstrators with stun grenades and rubber bullets, detained thousands and beat hundreds, which caused protests to swell and prompted the U.S. and the European Union to introduce sanctions against Belarusian officials.
ЖЫВЕ БЕЛАРУСЬ
This poster was created as a part of Graphic Design Practises course at PJATK Warsaw. The topic of the task was Social poster.
А фашист все равно ты.
