New format of protests in Belarus
1 December 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
Please turn on subtitles and choose your language in the video settings.
While Belarusians have been defending their right for a national culture and for the use of the national symbols for 16 weeks, Alexander Lukashenko is doing his best to suppress any signs of Belarusian-ness. During a meeting with the Minister of Defense, the dictator complains about the lack of patriotism, meaning the lack of willingness to support his regime.
Mass protests continue to be held in the country despite the harsh repression and many criminal cases against peaceful protesters. The “Zero per mille” campaign is one of the main forms of the protests this week. Dozens of doctors, students, factory workers and residents of many cities expressed their solidarity with the anesthesiologist Artsiom Sarokin and TUT.BY journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich. They are defendants in a criminal case because they disclosed information that the murdered Raman Bandarenka’s blood had contained 0 ppm of alcohol. At the same time, no criminal case has been opened to investigate Raman’s death.
Sunday’s “March of the Neighbors” took place throughout the country again. Tens of thousands of people went outside and united in small columns, while the government security forces tried in vain to disperse them. As always, there were gunshots and tear gas.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Lukashenko to forward Putin’s “greetings” and to remind the dictator of his promises at the meeting in Sochi.
