At 2 pm (local time), several hundred elderly people gathered in front of the Red Church in Minsk. Seniors keep protesting against vote rigging, police abuse and persecuting dissidents in Belarus.
In Independence Square, there was a megaphoning policeman who urged the protesters to disperse, but they responded: “[Lukashenka] go away and take your OMON with you!” The policemen were filming and photographing the participants in the rally.
At the very beginning of the action, the column of demonstrators was about 250 metres long – from Independence Square to the Central Cinema. They chanted ‘Lukashenka should be put in paddy wagon’, ‘This is our city’, ‘Long live Belarus!’, etc. Some of them were carrying posters and portraits of Belarusian political prisoners.
Health workers, who are outraged at dismissing colleagues, the authorities’ inaction amid the coronavirus pandemic as well as pro-government troops brutality which resulted in the increasing number of patients in hospitals, have joined the pensioners in their protest. As reported earlier, over 40 doctors who took part in Saturday’s solidarity protest were detained in Minsk. The medical march did not have a chance to start, because the people in masks began to detain the people who gathered.
Part of Independence Avenue along which the protesters were marching was cleared of traffic.
73-year-old activist Nina Bahinskaya who is called ‘mother of Belarusian revolution’ and ‘Granny with a white-red-white flag’ also showed up at the rally.
Students of the Belarusian State University and the Belarusian State Academy of Arts also took part in the march. This autumn. a number of Belarusian professors and students who supported anti-presidential protests have lost their jobs or the opportunity to continue education.
Within two hours, the participants covered the distance of about four kilometres and reached Yakub Kolas Square; they walked past the buildings of the Interior Ministry and the KGB.
In Yakub Kolas Square, the participants performed renowned Belarusian songs Almighty God and Kupalinka; then they began to disperse. About a thousand persons have taken part in today’s march.
As reported earlier, at least 1,050 persons, including celebs and journalists, were detained in Belarus during Sunday’s March of People Power.
The protest rallies in Belarus have been underway for three months. The major demands are Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s resignation, holding a free and fair election, releasing political prisoners, putting an end to police violence as well as state-run TV stations’ providing people with unbiased and reliable information. According to human rights activists’ estimates, more than 17,000 people have been detained in Belarus since the election day; many of them were beaten or tortured, some were raped. There are at least six death cases that are linked to the post-election protests. Hundreds are parties to criminal proceedings, the number of political prisoners exceeded 120.
