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In the wake of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s unexpected inauguration, Minskers have started to take to the streets.
There are reports about protest chains and one-person pickets in a number of residential areas in the Belarusian capital, including the city centre, Vyasnyanka, Uruccha, Kurasoushchyna. However, the police are not slow to detain the dissidents.
A woman and a young man were grabbed near the Palace of Independence; they were holding posters ‘Sasha, get the sack’ and ‘Well, who is a rat here?’ (earlier, Lukashenka called protesters ‘rats’):
Students of Minsk State Linguistic University are protesting at the building of the alma mater:
Several Belarusian companies and shops have announced early closing due to ‘the occasion’.
At about 11.30 (Minsk time), state-run news agency BelTA reported that Alyaksandr Lukashenka had been sworn-in as the President of Belarus in an inaugural ceremony in the Palace of Independence. All the preparations for the swearing-in ceremony were kept under wraps; the Belarusian people were not informed of holding the event.
