About 10,000 women marched noisily through the Belarusian capital on Saturday, beating pots and pans and shouting for the resignation of the country’s authoritarian president in the 35th consecutive day of large anti-government protests.
Many carried portraits of Maria Kolesnikova, a leader of the opposition Coordination Council that is seeking a new presidential election for the ex-Soviet nation of 9.5 million people.
She was jailed this week after police tried to force her out of the country.
Her lawyer says Kolesnikova was driven to the border with Ukraine, but tore up her passport and refused to leave Belarus.
Others carried placards reading “ “You painted my heart with blue pain,” referring to President Alexander Lukashenko's claim that some women previously had painted themselves to appear to have been bruised by police beatings.
The human rights group Viasna said more than 70 people were detained by police during the march.
Lukashenko refuses to meet with the council, and most of its leaders have been detained or have left the country.
The protests began Aug. 9 after a presidential election that officials say handed Lukashenko a sixth term in office with 80% support.
Opponents and some poll workers say the election results were rigged.
Some protesters have displayed bruises from a violent police crackdown in the days after the election, when over 7,000 protesters were detained.
The protests are the largest and most widespread of Lukashenko's 26 years in power. Sunday demonstrations in the capital of Minsk have repeatedly brought out crowds of more than 100,000.
Protests have broken out in other major cities in Belarus and strikes have hit some of the country's major state-owned industries, previously a base of support for the embattled 66-year-old leader.
Lukashenko met Saturday with top officials of the country's security agencies. Throughout the unrest, he has rejected any concessions, has repeatedly accused Belarus' western neighbors of preparing to overthrow his government.
In one show of aggressive defiance, he was seen striding with an automatic rifle across the grounds of his presidential residence.
As the protests persist, questions loom about possible action by Russia to prop up his regime.
Lukashenko is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in their first face-to-face contact since the unrest began.
Putin has said he stands ready to send Russian police into Belarus if the protests turn violent, stoking fears that Moscow could use the political dissent as an excuse to annex its neighbor.
The countries have a union agreement envisaging close political, economic and military ties, although Lukashenko has repeatedly expressed concerns that Putin wants Russia to absorb Belarus entirely.
AP Newsroom
Sun Sep 13 2020
Women attend an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 - AP Photo
Selangor rekod kes jenayah seksual tertinggi dalam tempoh tiga tahun
Siti Kamisah berkata, kepadatan penduduk, aktiviti ekonomi, desakan hidup serta capaian internet yang meluas menjadi antara faktor.
Zii Jia, Jun Hao lepasi halangan pertama Terbuka Thailand
Zii Jia melepasi halangan pertama dalam misi memburu gelaran kedua Terbuka Thailand selepas mengiringi rakan senegara Leong Jun Hao mara ke pusingan kedua di Stadium Nimibutr di sini hari ini.
INNOVATHON musim kedua sasar tarik bakat muda, pupuk minat pada STEM
INNOVATHON musim kedua memfokuskan kepada penghasilan tenaga kerja dan bakat masa depan yang mampu bergerak seiring dengan kemajuan dalam bidang sains, teknologi, kejuruteraan, dan matematik (STEM) serta penyelidikan dan pembangunan (R&D).
Tuanku Zara Salim rasmi Pameran Limar anjuran Muzium Seni Asia, UM
Raja Permaisuri Perak Darul Ridzuan Tuanku Zara Salim berkenan untuk merasmikan Pameran Limar “Tenunan warisan yang kian dilupakan” anjuran Muzium Seni Asia Universiti Malaya dimana sejumlah 78 koleksi tenunan limar dipamerkan bersempena pameran tersebut.
Lawrence Wong sah PM baharu, Lee Hsien Loong kini Menteri Kanan
Timbalan Setiausaha Agung Parti Tindakan Rakyat (PAP) Singapura, Lawrence Wong, 51, secara rasminya mengangkat sumpah sebagai Perdana Menteri republik itu yang baharu, pada Selasa.
Majlis mengangkat sumpah itu dilakukan di hadapan Ketua Hakim Singapura, Sundaresh Menon dan Presiden Singapura, Tharman Shanmugaratnam di Istana.
Majlis mengangkat sumpah itu dilakukan di hadapan Ketua Hakim Singapura, Sundaresh Menon dan Presiden Singapura, Tharman Shanmugaratnam di Istana.
Peristiwa Nakba disifatkan berulang, tapi lebih dahsyat
76 tahun berlalu, peristiwa Nakba yang berlaku pada 14 Mei 1948 terus diingati sebagai peristiwa hitam buat rakyat Palestin. Nakba yang membawa maksud malapetaka merujuk kepada penghapusan etnik Palestin, yang mana bagi penduduk Gaza, peristiwa itu tidak ubah seperti apa yang berlaku sekarang. Penderitaan dan kesengsaraannya malah disifatkan lebih teruk berbanding 1948.
Malaysia mahu terokai pelbagai bidang dengan Republik Kyrgyz
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berkata, Malaysia berhasrat untuk menjalin kerjasama dengan Republik Kyrgyz dalam pelbagai bidang yang boleh dibangunkan bersama.
Dua pegawai penjara maut, seorang banduan lolos
Penyerang bersenjata membunuh dua pegawai penjara Perancis dan mencederakan tiga yang lain dalam serangan ke atas konvoi di Normandy pada Selasa.
Data PADU sudah sedia, tunggu masa sesuai elak spekulasi inflasi - Rafizi
Sebarang keputusan berhubung pelaksanaan mekanisme tersebut, hanya akan diputuskan oleh kerajaan pada tempoh yang sesuai bagi mengelakkan spekulasi inflasi.
Kyrgyz zahirkan hasrat Malaysia lantik penasihat kepada kerajaan republik itu - PM
Republik Kyrgyz hari ini menzahirkan hasrat supaya Malaysia melantik seorang penasihat kepada kerajaan negara itu, kata Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Kata sepakat dicapai antara Moscow, ketua Wagner - Media Rusia
Prigozhin telah menerima cadangan Lukashenko untuk menghentikan kemaraan tentera upahan Wagner dan meredakan ketegangan.
'Apa masalahnya? Hubungi saja Putin' - Presiden Belarus dakwa boleh guna senjata nuklear
Presiden Belarus Alexander Lukashenko mengancam untuk menggunakan senjata nuklear, lapor Agensi Berita Jerman (dpa).
Belarus akan terima senjata nuklear pada Julai - Putin
Putin berkata persiapan di kemudahan berkaitan akan diselesaikan pada 7 dan 8 Julai sebelum pemindahan senjata nuklear dilaksanakan.
Hukuman mati menanti pengkhianat negara di Belarus
Pindaan kepada kanun jenayah negara itu disahkan oleh Presiden Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.
Penyelesaian konflik di Ukraine hanya bergantung kepada Kiev - Presiden Belarus
Presiden Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko yakin penyelesaian konflik di Ukraine hanya bergantung Kyiv yang perlu bersedia duduk di meja rundingan.
Jangan cabar Rusia jika tidak mahu Perang Dunia Ketiga tercetus - Presiden Belarus
Lukashenko juga memberi amaran beliau akan meminta Putin 'mengembalikan semula' senjata nuklear kepada Belarus jika Barat menggerakkan senjata nuklear mereka ke negara sempadan Minsk.
Perdana Menteri Belarus dipecat
Perdana Menteri Andrei Kobyakov akan digantikan dengan bekas ketua bank pembangunan, Sergei Rumas.