8.50 am NN.by reports that an activist Valadar Tsurpanau was detained today in Mogilev, he was taken to the Leninsky District police station in Mogilev.
09.00 am BelaPAN.by Human rights activists report that at least six people were detained in Independence Square during last night’s protest rally in Minsk.
09.30 am BelaPAN.by Belarusian and international human rights lawyers and activists call for the UN Special Rapporteur to investigate all reports of torture in Belarus.
9.31 am Pavel Latushko, a member of the Coordination Council, ex-director of the Kupalovsky Theater, came to the Investigative Committee for questioning as a witness in the criminal case against the Coordination Council instigated by the authorities.
Source: TUT.BY
Svetlana Aleksievich, a writer and a Nobel Prize winner, was summoned to the Investigative Committee on Wednesday 26th August. Svetlana is also a member of the Coordination Council.
Today at 10.40 a court trial will take place against Olga Kovalkova, a confidant of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and a member of the Coordination Council. Olga is accused of organizing unauthorized mass rallies.
Two more members of the Coordination Council, Sergei Dylevsky and Aleksander Lavrinovich were detained yesterday. It is expected that their situation will become clearer today.
9.45 am Tut.by: Nikita Mikado, a successful IT businessman from the USA, spoke about the Protect Belarus Project to support former security officers. Together with the Belarusian Solidarity Fund (BYSOL), it provides assistance to law enforcement officers who have lost their jobs because of their [political] beliefs. As of today, the Project has received 425 applications, 27 of them have been approved and 11 payments have already been made. Primarily, help is given to those who have publicly announced their resignation from the security forces. The payment amounts to 1500 euros. In addition to financial compensations, the company helps the applicants to master a new profession in IT and other areas in demand.
10.00 am The entire Yandex office switched to remote work in Minsk and some of its employees have left the city. As a reminder, on 13th August searches were carried out at Yandex and Uber offices in Minsk.
10.05 am COVID-19 is confirmed for one of the Minsk residents who was beaten up in the Akrecina detention center after the protests. The victim said that he was kept in a four-bed cell together with 38 other detainees.
10.10 am Around 500 workers at the Vitebsk department of Belarusian Railway signed a joint petition to the regional and city authorities. They demand the resignation of Lukashenko and Yarmoshyna and recognition that the declared result of the Presidential elections is illegitimate.
10.20 am A website for parents REBENOK.BY reported that teachers expressed their views to Lukashenko’s statement claiming that only people who share the state ideology should teach in schools. “If we all leave, who will teach the children?” the teachers ask. A teachers’ rally will be held today by the building of the Ministry of Education.
A reminder that on 18th September teachers went to a peaceful rally in Minsk and announced that they would not lie to parents and children. They also demanded the resignation of the education minister and threatened to strike from 1st September.
10.30 am The Viasna Human Rights Center, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) asked the UN Special Rapporteur to intervene in Belarus.
Around 450 people have been brutally beaten during the protests in the country, but not a single criminal case against those responsible have been commenced.
Human rights activists remind that more than 6 thousand people were detained and were imprisoned for up to 10 days in terrible conditions. Around 450 people were severely beaten, humiliated and brutally tortured by law enforcement officers.
10.45 am It should be said, though, that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not sitting still. They do react to the law violations, however only if those are performed by the protesters. So, over the past 24 hours, there have been 39 reports of administrative charges against people participating in the unauthorized mass rallies. Three criminal cases have been started due to the violent treatment of police officers! Seems like the system is only going to protect itself.
12.00 pm Olga Kovalkova, detained yesterday by riot police at the Minsk Tractor Works, was initially due to be tried via Skype. She applied for the trial to be held in her presence, and the hearing was postponed to 2:00 pm.
The trial will be held under two administrative charges: disobedience of police orders and participation in unauthorized mass events.The trial of another member of the Coordination Council, Sergei Dylevsky, began at 12:00.
12.05 pm A white-red-white flag was removed from a residential building in Minsk. A Tut.by reader reported that unknown people wearing black clothes without identifying insignia rang the door phone, and when one of the residents opened the door to the apartment block, they went to the common balcony and took down the flag.
12.15 pm Ekaterina Andreeva, a Belsat journalist detained when running a live broadcast on 14 August (basically, doing her job), wrote on her Facebook that she’s been charged with “participating in an unauthorized event”.
The trial is scheduled for 9:10 am on August 27. Ekaterina has asked anyone who witnessed her detention to contact her.
12.20 pm For the last two weeks, employees of the Academy of Sciences have been taking part in the Solidarity actions. Yesterday, the Academy directors received a verbal order from the chairman of the presidium to dismiss anyone who attends any more protests.
12.30 pm Two employees of the state television and radio company “Vitebsk” have gone on strike. The author and host of a popular “Time Art” TV show and chief engineer Vladimir Zaitsev announced their boycott, which began yesterday.
12.38 pm The Belaruskali strike committee has asked all participants of the strike to come to the office of the Salihorsk Belarusian Independent Trade Union on the central square of the city at the time indicated by the strike committee and to register in the list of the strikees. They’ve explained that it is necessary in order to receive financial compensation from the strike funds, but some people are afraid that the list of participants could end up in the wrong hands.
12.45 pm One more Belarusian newspaper, the “Svobodnye Novosti” (“Free News”) has experienced problems with the release of their latest issue. The printing house again claimed that there was an equipment failure. The same problems were previously experienced by the Komsomolskaya Pravda, Narodnaya Volya, and Belgazeta. It’s uncanny how the equipment only seems to fail when printing newspapers that support the protests.
12.55 pm The official Telegram channel of Lukashenko’s press service published a video of Lukashenko’s meeting with Deputy Prime Minister, Snapkov, and Minister of Finance, Seliverstov. In the video, Lukashenko talks about “the difficult times” and calculates the economic losses from “all that walking in the streets” and “so-called rallies”.
1.00 pm State bodies cannot demand revision of the elections, since this situation is not foreseen by the Constitution, according to the chairman of the Constitutional Court of Belarus, Petr Miklashevich. He stated that the demand of the Constitutional Council to review the election results is, therefore “unconstitutional.”
1.05 pm Svetlana Tikhanovskaya took part in the meeting of the European Parliament. Here’s a summary of the main points:
- The presidential elections were fraudulent and there were thousands of violations.
- What’s happening in Belarus now is a peaceful revolution.
- The European Parliament must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Belarus.
- The goal of the Coordination Council is to achieve new elections through peaceful dialogue.
- The Coordination Council is ready to nominate its representatives for negotiations with the authorities.
1.10 pm The currency trading day is over and by the end of the day:
US Dollar gained 4.74 kopecks and rose to 2.6 BYN
Euro gained 5.68 kopecks and rose to 3.08 BYN
Russian Rouble gained 5.86 kopecks and reached the point of 3.49 BYN
In the banks, the exchange rate is 3.19 BYN per Euro and 2.72 per dollar.
1.20 pm Some employees of Belarusian National TV and Radio are said to have been fired based on the mutual consent of the involved parties.
1.22 pm Euroradio announced that on Friday, August 28, the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna will be dedicated to Belarus.
1.27 pm The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, has dismissed the Third Secretary of the Belarusian Embassy in India, Andrei Misyura. Mr. Misyura was one of at least nine Belarusian diplomats who supported the protests.
1.28 pm The Security Council adopted its first resolution this year. It is called “On measures to stabilize the situation in the Republic of Belarus.” The document has already been included in the National Register of Legal Acts, but its full text will be published only tomorrow.
1.30 pm Despite the threats and prohibitions, members of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus have come out to rally in Independence Avenue near the Academy building. The police are filming the protesters and asking them to leave.
1.32 pm The therapists of the 6th Clinical Hospital in Minsk have gathered for an assembly against violence. They are holding posters saying “Flowers are better than bullets” and “We are against violence.”
1.41 pm Pavel Latushko, interrogated as a witness in the case against the establishment of the Coordination Council, noted that the interrogation had lasted for about three and a half hours. “The activity of the Coordination Council will continue, it does not break the law,” he said.
1.45 pm Today, the Strike Committee of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union in Salihorsk has received humanitarian aid from volunteer organizations of Belarus: 350 sets of school supplies for children. The strike committee of JSC “Belaruskali” decided to hand them over to children suffering from oncological diseases for the beginning of the school year.
1.50 pm In Poland, a man who drew a red line on the fence of the Belarusian embassy in Warsaw on August 11 has been arrested. Embassy officials estimated the damage at PLN 98,000 (USD 26,376). The detainee explained that the line symbolized the national flag of the country, but he still faces imprisonment for the term of 3 months to 5 years.
1.56 pm An advertising workers’ rally is underway, in support of the employees of the National Art Museum. The workers of the museum had previously organized solidarity actions, in particular against the violence used by the security forces against civilians.
2.00 pm Today, people are bidding a final farewell to the 28-year-old activist Nikita Krivtsov, who disappeared during the protests and was later found dead. The funeral started at the central stadium in Molodechno, as Nikita was a dedicated football fan of the local club. Hundreds of people have turned out for the funeral. The coffin was covered with a white-red-white flag.
2.05 pm The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has tried to get in touch with Lukashenko but has not succeeded. The latter is avoiding dialogue with the West, as well as with the people of Belarus. Angela Merkel has previously tried to contact Lukashenko by phone but he refused to answer.
2.06 pm Employees of the National Opera of Belarus are demanding the reinstatement of Pavel Latushko as director of the National Theater, named after Yanka Kupala. The letter with the demand has been signed by 258 people so far. The collection of signatures continues. Latushko’s reinstatement has also previously been demanded by employees of the National Library.
2.20 pm Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov: The Kremlin welcomes the fact that the Coordination Council does not refuse to cooperate with Russia. So far, this is the first comment on the Council’s activities made by Russian officials.
2.25 pm Belsat has published what is believed to be the text of the resolution “On measures to stabilize the situation in the Republic of Belarus”, adopted by the Security Council earlier today. The document itself has not yet been officially published, but it seems to have been leaked.
2.33 pm Preparations for tonight’s pro-government rally “For Peace, Stability, and Security of Dear Belarus” have begun at the Komarovsky market in Minsk. They’ve already brought the audio equipment and a set of flags. Similar rallies have also been announced in Baranovichi, Bereza, Lida, and Malorita.
2.35 pm The August 25th issue of BelGazeta (which means “Belarusian newspaper), not printed by the state printing house due to “equipment failure”, has been published online in PDF. The editors have decided to make it available for free to reach as many readers as possible.
The document provides for some tough domestic and foreign policy measures.
Inside the country – tougher actions intensified fight against strikes at factories:
The Ministry of Internal Affairs was ordered to “restore peace and silence”, “to prevent unrest in the country and especially in Minsk”, to suppress actions calling for strikes at factories.
Council of Ministers – “to ensure the implementation of orders” given by Lukashenko, “to stop strikes at enterprises”
KGB – “to identify and suppress the actions of the organizers of street riots, to use additional channels of financing” (it is not clear what exactly is meant)Mass media – “to warn that unconstitutional actions are the way to the abyss”.
A number of paranoid statements are addressed to the outside world:
The Foreign Ministry has been ordered to “warn the leaders of Western states […] about responsibility for inciting unrest.” It is not specified which heads of Western countries “incite unrest”.
The Ministry of Defense should “pay special attention to the movement of NATO troops on the territory of Poland and Lithuania”.
To the Border Guard Service – “to strengthen the protection of the border in order to prevent militants, weapons, ammunition, money from other countries from entering Belarus to finance the riots”.
2.50 pm Presenter Denis Lipkin wrote on his Instagram that he’d resigned from the Brest TV and Radio Company. The journalist had worked on state television for 18 years. He didn’t state the reasons for his resignation.
3:00 pm In Hrodna, police are tracking mobile phones to identify the people who have taken part in the protests and summon them to the prosecutor’s office for “a preventive conversation”.
3:05 pm A rally has begun near the building of the Ministry of Education in Minsk. Teachers are particularly unhappy with Lukashenko’s statements yesterday (literally: “those who do not support the state ideology have no place in the education system”).
Some of the posters people are holding read: “Are lies and threats the state ideology?”, and “I am not happy with your opinion, Sasha, maybe it’s you who should quit?”. People have been applauding for a long time and waiting for officials to come out to talk to them.
You can watch the rally here.
3:06 pm Three employees of the Forensic Expertise Committee have been fired for participating in the March of New Belarus on Sunday, August 23. This was reported by one of the dismissed employees, who wished to remain anonymous.
The State Committee for Forensic Science declined to comment on this story.
3:15 pm Sergei Veremeyenko, the owner of a gift-shop in Hrodna, said that yesterday the police came to search his shop. They said that he was a person of interest in a criminal case regarding the organization of the riots.
The search lasted for over two hours. 27 large white-red-white flags, small flags, as well as other goods bearing a white-red-white flag were seized.
3:17 pm Numerous military vehicles have been spotted in the center of Minsk.
3:20 pm Svetlana Tikhanovskaya invites Belarusians to celebrate Independence Day.
“Independence is a great value, an opportunity for people to be masters of their land, to determine their own destiny and be responsible for it,” she says in her new video message. Lukashenko was a member of Parliament in 1991 when Independence was declared. And, according to the public protocols, he did not vote at that session.
Today at 6.00 pm, the deputies who took part in the adoption of the Independence Act will come to Independence Square in Minsk.
3:25 pm Belarusian Narodny Bank has blocked all private payments via Internet banking. The bank’s website is reported to be down.
3:30 pm Sergei Dylevsky, a member of the Coordination Council and the leader of the strike at Minsk Tractor Works, has been sentenced to ten days in jail. He was found guilty under two articles of the Administrative Code: organizing an illegal mass event and failure to obey a police order.
3:35 pm Paddy wagons, military equipment, and water cannons were brought to the teachers’ rally near the Ministry of Education. However, people haven’t left and are chanting “Tribunal!” and “Stop scaring us!”, “Karpenko, come out!”. However, the Minister of Education, Igor Karpenko, has not emerged.
3:45 pm President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, proposed the softening of conditions of entry to Ukraine for Belarusian citizens.
3:50 pm The director of the gymnasium where the parents demanded an honest recount of the elections, has dismissed the board of trustees.
3:55 pm The number of participants in the rally near the Ministry of Education is growing. “We’re tired of lying face down on the floor,” one of the participants said emotionally. “Educators can no longer remain silent”.
4:05 pm The court of the Salihorsk region imposed a sentence on Nikolai Zimin, the former chairman of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, for “participation in an unauthorized event,” the Belaruskali’s Strike Committee reported. He was sentenced to a fine of 1215 Belarusian rubles.
4:10 pm A minute of silence was announced in Minsk in memory of those killed in protest actions.
4:12 pm The EU is considering the imposition of sanctions against 15 to 20 Belarusian officials – TASS.
4:23 pm Those gathered at the Ministry of Education are now singing songs, including an old Soviet song “They teach at school” that says that schools teach to be honest and to be kind to those weaker than ourselves”.
4:30 pm Nasha Niva has published a video showing how a special forces soldier deliberately shot at the correspondent, Natalia Lubnevskaya. The journalist was wounded by a rubber bullet at a protest on August 10. One of the fighters stopped 10 meters from a group of journalists in blue “Press” vests and aimed a shotgun at Natalia.
4:58 pm The Orthodox Church has replaced the Metropolitan in Belarus. So far it’s unknown if this was a scheduled reorganizational measure or if it had something to do with Lukashenko telling the priests to mind their own business and stay out of politics.
5:15 pm Official representative of Tsikhanouskaya in Belarus and a member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council Olga Kovalkova was sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest. Kovalkova is accused of organizing an unauthorized mass event and failure to obey the lawful demands of the police. The authorities are obviously trying to arrest, scare and isolate potential leaders of the protests, strikes and opposition, which explains today’s detentions of the Coordination Council members, strike committees, and active protesters in Minsk and Mahilou.
5:25 pm The Supreme Court of Belarus has buried the hopes of Belarusians for the possibility of a legitimate resolution to the political crisis in the country, by turning down all claims for annulment of the election results.
5:45 pm The National Bank of Belarus has sent a letter to all commercial banks with an insistent recommendation to take “exhaustive measures” to provide currency exchange points with sufficient amounts of cash currency.
At the same time, the regulator recommended banks to follow “a balanced and economically sound approach in the establishment of foreign currency exchange rates”.
6:00 pm Belgazprombank (an affiliate of russian Gazprombank) has suspended the ability for the replenishment of foreign currency deposits.
6.12 pm Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus and the leader of the Belarusian Orthodox Church (an autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church) Paul has been relieved of the post – press-service of Russian Orthodox Church reports. Russian Orthodox Church is the biggest Church in Belarus.
6.27 pm The Ministry of Information has explained why dozens of websites were blocked in Belarus. The blocking was initiated by Lukashenko’s Executive Analytical center, as is indicated in the official Ministry documentation sent to the blocked resources. The document states that access to the sites was restricted because they “incited unrest and coordinated efforts to organize mass disruptions of public order in opposition to the authorities”.
6.32 pm The National Bank has sent a letter to the banks of Belarus. It acknowledged the increased demand for foreign currency and required them to provide exchange offices with adequate amounts of cash.
6.34 pm Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun paid tribute to Belarusian hero Kastus Kalinouski and all the leaders of the uprising of 1863-1864 at the Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius, LithuaniaKalinouski was a writer, journalist, and revolutionary. He was the leader of Belarus’ national revival and the anti-Russian uprising of 1863.
6.46 pm The authorities have responded to the teachers’ protests with police vans and water cannons. Nevertheless, more and more teachers continue to join the action. Instead of being intimidated, people chant “Tribunal”.
6.50 pm Today is the Day of Restoration of Independence of Belarus. On this day in 1991, the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union. As every day, Minsk is full of police and soldiers. Mobile internet is jammed. Reportedly, power is out at the Red Church, which supports the protesters. Law enforcement has also confiscated the demonstrators’ sound equipment.
Despite the rain, 1,000-2,000 people gathered at the rally. They are chanting: “It’s our Square!”, “Release prisoners”, “Freedom”. Among them are members of Parliament who voted for Independence in 1991. Portraits of those who were killed during the recent crackdown are displayed near the church.
The authorities have turned on loud music in an attempt to drown out the protesters.
6.55 pm 20 workers of Grodno Azot, a chemical plant, were detained by riot police for no apparent reason on their way back from work. Last week, several leaders of workers were detained; some of them were jailed, while others fled the country. Lukashenko is trying to stop workers from announcing a nationwide strike. Protesters are starting to gather near the police station in Grodno.
7.37 pm The Ministry of Defense of Belarus announced that the army is ready to defend the country from internal threats. This was stated by the chief of the general staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus Alexander Volfovich.
8.03 pm While Independence Square is hosting the celebration of The Independence Day of Belarus, the authorities are holding a rally in support of Lukashenko, where Dmitry Pavlichenko gave a speech. To recap, Pavlichenko is widely considered to be responsible for the formation of “death squads” that killed, tortured and tormented Lukashenko’s political opponents in 1999-2000. According to “Novaya Gazeta”, he was also in charge of beatings and brutal detentions in Minsk on August 10th. It was him who ordered the use of stun grenades and gas against people.
People at the rally displayed symbols that are associated with Russian pro-imperial forces and have been commonly used in breakaway regions of DPR and LPR in eastern Ukraine since 2014.
8.50 pm 5 workers of Grodno Azot were released from the police station. The detention report states that they were “rallying without permission”.15 workers are still being held inside.
8.52 pm More and more people are arriving for a march in Lida. The protesters in front are carrying two flags: the Soviet-era red (official) and white-red-white (which was used before Lukashenko). This is an indicator of national unity against Lukashenko and his regime despite the differences.
9.05 pm Latvia promised to ban 30 more Belarusian officials from entering the country. They haven’t yet been named, but it is known that these officials are representatives of the Central Election Commission, Interior Ministry, KGB and the presidential administration of Belarus.
9.15 pm Workers from Turkmenistan and Georgia published video messages expressing support of their colleagues from Belarus.
9.45 pm Right after the celebration in Independence Square police have started sporadic arrests. They are mostly targeting protesters who are displaying national symbols.
9.46 pm Peaceful protests were also held in the regions of Belarus: Novopolozk, Vitebsk, Pruzhany, Gomel and other places.
9.49 pm Policemen have beaten up a protester near a police office in Grodno. Belsat TV reports that he lost consciousness and was then put into a police van. Political activist Vladimir Nepomnyatchich was also arrested in Gomel tonight.
9.50 pm The arrested Grodno Azot workers have been released, but the trial is scheduled for tomorrow.
