RFE: More Than 100 Opposition Supporters Detained In Belarus After Lukashenka Says He Stopped 'Revolution'
MINSK -- Police in Belarus have detained more than 100 people at opposition rallies in the capital, Minsk, and elsewhere after President Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced his government had thwarted a "revolution" amid a widening crackdown on opposition leaders and activists, including the arrest of a potential presidential challenger.
People were urged to turn out on June 19, the last day to sign ballot petitions for those seeking to run in the Belarusian presidential election on August 9, when Lukashenka, 65, will be seeking a sixth term in office.
Lukashenka, in power since 1994, is facing what experts say is his biggest challenge yet as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus after the president ignored calls to institute any social distancing measures or restrictions.
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Update #1: Belarus opposition protests end in arrests -- BBC
Update #2: Police break up new protests in Belarus as Lukashenko warns of foreign plot -- Reuters
WNU Editor: The above video showing thousands forming a human chain in Minsk reminds me of the protests that first broke out in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Is Belarus on the cusp of a revolution? I am not sure. But the signs are certainly there.
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