Live Feed | 4 Oct

4 October 2020 | Infocenter Free Belarus 2020

Good morning. 57th day of protests starts in Belarus.

8:00 am Liberation March today

The Liberation March should take place today at 2 pm in Belarus. The March participants will demand the release of political prisoners and other people who are currently held hostage by the regime in Belarus.

8:15 am The morning starts with counting yesterday’s detainees

The Municipal Department of Internal Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee said that 11 people were detained yesterday in Minsk for participating in the protests, as reported by RIA Novosti.

8 people were detained in Salihorsk.

9:23 am The President of Ukraine signed a decree on measures to attract IT specialists from Belarus. This should attract highly qualified IT specialists and innovators to the country. Thus, Ukraine plans to make itself more attractive to investors.

9:32 am Military equipment in Minsk doesn’t surprise anyone 

Since early in the morning, the readers of the Telegram channels have been reporting on the concentration of military equipment in the center of Minsk.

Closure of large shopping centers in the city center on Sundays is no longer news.

10:22 am “The authorities have already made an attempt to arrest me”

TUT.BY: Svetlana Alexievich fears that after a trip to Europe, she will not be able to return to Belarus. She also spoke in favor of tougher sanctions against the Belarusian authorities.

When asked if she would return to Belarus after visiting Europe, Alexievich replied that she did not plan to remain overseas and was going to return to her homeland. But the writer and her entourage have doubts that she will be allowed into the country. Svetlana Alexievich admitted that she doesn’t feel safe, because all her colleagues are in prison or in forced exile.

11:12 am Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya supported the participants of the Liberation March

“Each of you goes to protests, first of all, for your own freedom. But today’s March is for the freedom of political prisoners. These are people who, like Siarhei Tsikhanouski, have not seen their family and children for several months. These are people who have suffered for their beliefs – and they still suffer. And our task is to free them. Therefore, I support everyone who goes out on the streets of their city today. Let the whole world see: Belarusians want to live in freedom, not in prison.”

11:15 am Customary closing of the center of Minsk

Independence Square has been fenced and the Minsk Hero City Stele is covered with barbed wire.

It is reported that security forces are moving equipment and soldiers to places where protests are usually held on weekends. Barbed wire was brought to the Stele. Vans and minibuses without number plates have been seen near Pushkinskaya and Moskovskaya metro stations, around Independence Square and other places.

12:00 pm This morning in Minsk, special equipment is again being brought into the city: armored vehicles, paddy wagons, minibuses and military trucks were seen.

The trading house “Niamiha” does not work, Galleria Minsk will open only after 16:00. The Stolitsa and Korona Zamok shopping and entertainment centers also are not open, although there is no message either on the mall’s website or on social networks. Minsk residents report that KFC and Burger King at Niamiha also took a day off today.

The city center was closed. Minibuses and military trucks were seen near the Stele and the Palace of Independence

12:25 pm Nadezhda Puzhinskaya, a video correspondent of Homel Today (AKA “Strong News”) has been detained. She is in the Sovetski police department. This is already the third journalist of the portal to be detained in the past two days.

1:05 pm Nexta Telegram channel has announced today’s march in Minsk and other Belarusian cities in the name of political prisoners. It will be devoted to the demand to release political prisoners.

“First, they turned the Central Detention Ward in Akrestsina into  Lukashenko’s Auschwitz. And now they want to turn the whole of Belarus into a concentration camp,” says the announcement. The march will pass from the Minsk Hero City Stele and to the detention wards on Akrestsina Street.

They also ask people in other cities to “take a walk” to prisons and detention wards.

1:15 pm Today’s first detentions in Minsk: the police have detained at least one man in the Niamiha district.

1:20 pm TUT.BY readers report that in the area of ​​Independence Square, spaces surrounding residential buildings are occupied by security forces. People in military-style uniforms are on duty at the Palace of the Republic.

1:22 pm In Hrodna, security forces have blocked the entrance to the main square. Nearby streets are packed with detention vehicles, military and police cars.

1:25 pm Readers of @belsat have reported that traffic police are writing down the license plate numbers of cars parked in the center of Minsk.

1:40 pm Seven metro stations in and around the city center have been closed. (Kupalauskaya, Oktyabrskaya, Victory Square, Lenin Square, Niamiha, Frunzenskaya and Molodezhnaya).

1:45 pm People on social networks report that police are stopping people on Masherava Avenue in Minsk to check their documents. They make a video of each person and conduct a warning conversation.

2:05 pm The number of security forces and heavy equipment near the Stele is really huge today, say the correspondents of @nashaniva.

2:10 pm “The decision of Belarus to expel Lithuanian and Polish diplomats after the introduction of EU sanctions contradicts the logic of a dialogue,” said Vice-President of the European Commission for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.

2:11 pm Tatsiana Seviaryniets, the mother of political prisoner Pavel Seviaryniets, was detained near her home in Vitsebsk. Yesterday, the woman was fined 675 BYN (USD 257) for an unauthorized mass event – she was holding a white-red-white flag greeting protesters in the streets from her balcony.

2:12 pm At about 2 pm, residents of Minsk started experiencing the now traditional Sunday problems with accessing mobile Internet. The pages either do not load, or it takes over a minute to load them. This is true for at least three of the biggest operators.

2:15 pm Unlike in previous weeks, people in Minsk today aren’t gathering near shopping centers or by the Stele.

But detention vehicles are still parked on both sides of the avenue near the Yubileinaya hotel. There are also two water cannons between the hotel and the Stele.

2:16 pm There have been more selective detentions in Minsk. Near the Sports Palace, riot police officers approached a man, examined his backpack, and then took him to a minibus and drove away.

2:20 pm Water mains have burst in the center of Minsk and some roads have been flooded. The city’s Water and Sanitation Authority “Minskvodokanal” said that a large-diameter water pipeline had been damaged. Now, the breakage is being fixed and the water supply should be back in the next hour or two.

2:25 pm TUT.BY journalists Tatyana Matveeva and Ales Piletsuy, and correspondent of Vitsebsk news “Narodnyie Novosti” Serzhuk Serebro, have been detained near the shopping center “Mega” in Vitsebsk “for identification purposes”.

2:35 pm About ten assault barrier vehicles and a couple of detention vehicles have been seen driving along Dzerzhinsky Avenue towards Akrestsina Street.

2:37 pm Detentions continue by the Yubileinaya hotel, reports European radio: the security forces are detaining people who are just sitting on the street benches.

2:45 pm Thousands and thousands of people are streaming from Niamiha to the Stele, reports @nashaniva.

2:47 pm At least ten people have already been detained on Pobediteley Avenue in Minsk. Meanwhile, more and more people are gathering near the Planeta Hotel opposite the Stele.

2:50 pm In Hrodna, correspondent Olga Komyagina and photojournalist Katerina Gordeeva of TUT.BY and the newspaper “Narodnaya Volya” have been taken to the police department.

At this point, let us remind you that this weekend, neither TUT.by nor a single member of the foreign media have got accreditation – this means that journalists can only come to the marches as participants.

2:51 pm Minibuses have arrived at the Planeta Hotel, and riot police have already detained several men. Before the detentions, they made an announcement saying that the meeting is unauthorized and that “propaganda for war” is prohibited. The riot police were not detaining women. 

2:56 pm Traditional warnings played through the loudspeakers to protesters have been changed. Now, it says not only that the event is not authorized but also that it is forbidden to hide faces behind masks.

Have they never heard of COVID protection measures?

3:00 pm In Minsk, a number of well-organized columns of people are marching along Masherava Avenue, heading from Molodezhnaya metro station towards the Minsk Hero City monument. In total, there are more than a thousand people.

3:05 pm In Babruisk, almost everyone who participated in the March for the Release of Political Prisoners was detained. According to preliminary estimates, 50 people have been arrested.

3:12 pm Detentions began in Hrodna. Riot policemen in helmets arrived at the square where people were simply standing together, not even waving flags or chanting slogans. At least three people were detained, including young women. A man was brutally detained and thrown to the ground as he cried for help.

3:15 pm In Minsk, an unidentified individual in a balaclava and a helmet, surrounded by other masked men inside a bus, is demonstratively walking all over a white-red-white opposition flag in full view of a crowd of protesters. The people are chanting, “Shame on you!” but no one is reacting aggressively.

3:16 pm Belsat Telegram channel reports that the editor of “Narodnye Novosti Vitebsk”, Serzhuk Serebro, was released after a preventive conversation, but told not to wait for his colleagues from TUT.BY. Journalists Tatyana Matveeva and Ales Piletsky remained in the Pervomaisky district police office.

3:20 pm In Minsk, a large crowd of protesters is marching along the road.

3:25 pm By 3 pm on 4 October, 10 people were detained in Belarus. Their names were published by “Viasna” human rights center. The list is being updated.

3:28 pm In Minsk, a water cannon is moving beside the crowd on Masherava Avenue. Riot police are quickly approaching the protesters.

3:31 pm On Masherava Avenue, the demonstrators have taken tanks filled with water and paint out of the water cannon and emptied them. The cannon broke down and drove away with water sprinkling up from the roof. Security forces have arrived.

3:32 pm In Hrodna, after three protesters were detained in Sovetskaya Square, police officers started walking up to people and warning them not to take part in the unauthorized demonstration.

3:43 pm In Minsk, elderly people are also taking to the streets. One of them, 82-year-old Lidiya Nikiforovna, told the press that she is at the march because she is following her heart.

3:40 pm In Vitsebsk, BelaPAN and TUT.BY journalist Tatiana Matveeva was released from Pervomaisky district police office.

Ms. Matveeva told the press that a report had been drawn up by the police. She pointed out that she was working for BelaPAN, and her vest did not have a “TUT.BY” chevron. Now, she is waiting for Ales Piletsky near the exit.

3:43 pm On Masherava Avenue, security officers came up to a Volkswagen Passat that stopped to let the protesters pass, and took away his car keys. Then, they walked off and threw the keys into the traffic.

3:44 pm In Mahiliou, the police are not letting the protesters gather in one spot. The usual assembly point near Atrium shopping mall is cordoned off by security forces and riot police, with an information unit in the middle. Surrounding streets and squares are also patrolled. Human rights activists have reported a number of arrests: Ales Khitrikov, Kirill and Natalya Daskovich were detained, and Olga Seryakova was taken from the square.

3:45 pm In Zhodzina, traffic police are patrolling every gateway to the town.

A crowd of people took to the streets; three vans full of security forces personnel arrived. People scattered into nearby courtyards, the buses followed, and there were sporadic arrests.

3:49 pm Brest residents are also protesting in large numbers.

3:50 pm In Hrodna, riot police seized a young girl and a man, sprayed something in their faces and arrested them.

3:51 pm At the Minsk Hero City monument, OMON (riot police) has been joined by armed military personnel, who formed a second line behind them. People standing in front of the security forces are chanting ,“Long live Belarus!” and “Tribunal!” Two elderly women approached the officers and tried to talk to them.

Another water cannon came to the aid of the security forces, soaking people in the process.

The protesters are slowly walking towards Timiryazeva Street, which is already filled with people.

3:54 pm Minsk. Several thousand people are moving from the City Wall along Kalvariyskaya Street towards the Korona shopping mall. They occupied the roadway, not letting the convoy with military equipment pass. The army vehicles are forced to follow behind, and there is no way to go around: ordinary cars are driving in the other direction, honking constantly in support of the demonstrators.

3:57 pm In Vitsebsk, security forces used tear gas against the protesters.

4:04 pm Near Galleria shopping mall in Minsk, a water cannon is spraying people with weird-looking orange water.

4:11 pm In Minsk, the head of the column reached Pushkinskaya metro station. From the middle to the end of the column, people are chanting, “Let’s wait!” It is impossible to count the exact number of protesters – there are tens of thousands of people. From time to time, they stop so as not to stretch the column and chant, “This is our city!”

4:13 pm Detentions have started on Niamiha Street. People are linking arms. One of them collapsed while being detained.

According to @nashaniva, there are more than 100,000 people at the march, which is about the same as a week ago.

5:08 pm Human rights activists know the names of 46 people who were detained in several Belarusian cities. The list is still being updated, and rallies are ongoing in a number of cities and towns, big and small (e.g. Vialeyka), as well as in Minsk.

5:10 pm In Brest, a few columns of people are marching along the streets. The police are not letting them merge into a larger crowd.

5:14 pm In Mazyr, masked people in police uniforms detained a man at a playground when he took out a flag. Other protesters tried to prevent the arrest, albeit unsuccessfully.

5:16 pm Actor Sergey Vasyuchenko has been detained in Babruisk.

In Minsk, security forces have started dispersing the second crowd of protesters who were marching towards the detention center. Police started detaining people at the tail end of the column when it reached the Kaskad apartment complex, causing people to scatter into the courtyards.

5:24 pm In Hrodna, blogger Andrey Irkha was released after a report and interrogation. The police confiscated his phone. The officers hit him in the face several times during the arrest and tied his hands very tightly with a zip tie.

5:27 pm In Minsk, protesters are putting stickers and posters on the doors of the Akrestsina detention center. They also put up a photograph of the man who died yesterday after being held in custody there.

5:28 pm The group of people who normally volunteer at the Akrestsina temporary detention center have released a statement saying that it was not them talking to the protesters today, but rather some unidentified individuals posing as volunteers.

5:37 pm Part of the column decided not to continue towards the detention center and kept marching along the street. They reached Mikhailovo metro station and stepped onto the roadway.

At the Frunzenskiy district police office, there are two detention vans and 7-10 buses that are heading towards Pushkinskaya metro station.

5:39 pm In Mahiliou, BelaPAN reporter Ales Osiptsov has been released after a “preventive conversation” with the police. He expressed concern about his unlawful detention.

5:42 pm In Minsk, the demonstrators have left the temporary detention center on Akrestsina. Armed soldiers are tearing down posters that they have put up there, Nasha Niva reports. The protesters are marching towards Timiryazeva Street.

5:45 pm Olga Shparaga, a member of the Coordination Council, is among those who were detained on Kalvariyskaya Street in Minsk.

5:47 pm “Viasna” human rights center puts the number of people detained at the March for the Release of Political Prisoners at more than 60.

5:49 pm The 13-year-old girl who was detained in Hrodna has been released from the Leninsky district police office. Her mother came to pick her up.

The girl and her father were detained near Sovetskaya Square. According to the teenager, the police sprayed tear gas in their faces. Her father was taken to the Oktyabrski district police office.

5:55 pm In Minsk, large groups of people who fell behind the main column are still marching along Zhukova Avenue. Some groups of people are detaching from the main crowd, moving in all directions.

5:56 pm The four journalists who were detained in Babruisk will remain in custody until their trial tomorrow, according to one of the reporters who was able to call the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

6:06 pm People report that the mobile Internet, which was gone for several hours, has been turned back on in Minsk.

6:15 pm Telegram channel Nexta called on the protesters to stay near the detention center on Akrestsina Street and demand the release of political prisoners.

6:17 pm Homel journalist Nadezhda Pushinskaya will stay behind bars to await trial, according to the RFL/RF Telegram channel. 

6:19 pm People are being arrested near the Mikhalovo metro station.

6:20 pm Major metro stations have been reopened in Minsk.

6:22 pm Journalists Darya Sapranetskaya and Aliaksandr Vladyko have been released in Minsk.

6:29 pm Because of the traffic jam on Dzerzhinsky Avenue, security forces are forced to walk to the protesters, leaving their vehicles behind.

6:32 pm Journalists Ksenya Petrovich and Oleg Polischuk, who had been detained earlier in Brest, have been released.

6:35 pm Brutal detentions are taking place in Niamiha district.

6:40 pm All Minsk metro stations have been reopened.

6:42 pm Human rights activists have named 103 people arrested across the country today, and the list continues to grow. This was reported by the human rights center “Viasna”. 

6:47 pm Once again, more than 100,000 people took part in protest demonstrations today in Minsk.

6:51 pm Targeted arrests continue in Minsk as most of the protesters are heading home. 

6:54 pm A mural dedicated to Aliaksandr Taraikouski appeared near the place of his death.

6:57 pm On Dzerzhinsky Avenue, people blocked off an armored vehicle with loudspeakers – during protest demonstrations, this vehicle stands near the Stele playing Soviet songs.

7:00 pm Hrodna journalists Volha Komyagina and Katsiarsina Gordeeva were released from police custody.

7:20 pm Babruisk journalists Yury Komisarov, Alesya Latinskaya, Denis Nosov and Marina Molchanova will have to stay in the detention center until their trial.

7:33 pm In Malinovka district, a small group of protesters have returned to the bison statue, where they were driven away by the security forces an hour ago.

7:35 pm We received information that in Hrodna, security forces used pepper spray to detain a 13-year-old girl.

7:50 pm Today, Belarusians living in South Korea formed a solidarity chain.

7:51 pm The police demanded that photojournalist Darya Sapranetskaya return to the Oktyabrskaya police department, from where she was released just hours ago. People in balaclavas showed up at her apartment door. After a while, they left. Darya and her lawyer plan to go to the police department tomorrow. A similar situation happened to Oleg Shepelyuk, a journalist for the newspaper “Belarusy i Rynok”.

8:44 pm A small solidarity demonstration is now being held in Lida.

8:47 pm At the moment, a solidarity chain is being formed in a district in Homel.

8:54 pm A solidarity demonstration is underway in Hrodna.

9:18 pm Belarusian philosopher Aliaksandr Adamyants is in the detention center on Akrestsina Street. His colleague and spouse Volha Shparaga, meanwhile, is in the Zhodzina detention center.

9:32 pm In Brest, the editor of online newspaper “Tsarkva” (“Church”) Ihar Baranovsky was arrested. This was reported by Belsat.

9:39 pm “There are 700-800 names on the sanctions list prepared by us. All of these people are responsible for the violence in the country,” said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s press secretary, Anna Krasulina.

9:50 pm “Brestskaya Gazeta” photojournalist Oleg Poleschuk was detained for the second time today.

9:52 pm Malaryta Marathon winner Dzmitry Grigoryev dedicated his victory to famous Belarusian basketball player Yelena Leuchanka, who is currently being held in administrative detention, as well as all others beaten up and seriously injured during the peaceful protests.

9:56 pm Belarusians in St. Petersburg held a demonstration in support of Yelena Leuchanka during the BC Tsmoki-Minsk – BC Zenit basketball match.

10:18 pm Following the daytime marches, evening solidarity events are now underway in Vitsebsk, Polatsk, Rechytsa and several Minsk districts.

10:37 pm After today’s protest demonstrations, there are already more than 170 people on the detainees’ list, the human rights center “Viasna” writes.

10:42 pm The Belarusian men’s curling team expressed support for the detained basketball player, Yelena Leuchanka.

10:49 pm Various events in solidarity with Belarus were held today in Oslo, Krakow, Khabarovsk, as well as Florence and Sicily.