On June 26, a solidarity picket took place near the consulate of Belarus in the Polish city of Białystok.
Several dozen participants called for solidarity with Belarusians who are not afraid to protest against the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and condemned numerous human rights violations that had been recently committed by the police and authorities.
This week, a number of rallies aiming at showing support to Belarusian have been held in many cities around the world. This is a reaction to the current events in Belarus: grabbing and sentencing peaceful protesters, politically motivated arrests, intimidation and violence against opponents of the authorities.
According to the human rights centre Viasna, more than 360 people were detained at the ‘solidarity chain’ rallies (as well as before and after the rallies), held throughout the country from 18 to 21 June.
June, 19 was the last day to hold pre-election pickets and collect signatures for this or that wannabe presidential candidate. However, the Belarusian police detained peaceful protesters throughout the country. In the Belarusian capital, picketers formed a human chain of several kilometres; people took to the streets in different parts of Minsk; many chanted ‘Set them free’, remembering Lukashenka’s might-have-been opponent Viktar Babaryka, popular blogger Syarhei Tsikhanouski, politicians Mikalai Statkevich and Pavel Seyarynets, as well as dozens of people who have been placed into custody since the beginning of the 2020 election campaign. During the picket, riot police took away Belsat TV photo reporter Iryna Arakhouskaya, RFE/RL livestreaming crew Alyaksandra Dynko and Andrey Rabchyk (thousands of viewers were witnessing the detention online), and Reuters cameraman Uladzimir Kostsin, photographer Vadzim Zamirouski, and Onliner journalist Nastassya Zanko.
