How would you feel if your country’s leader was in office for over fifteen years? As an American that has a difference in opinion from President Donald Trump, I sure would be dissatisfied if he remained president for an extended amount of time. Because of this, I can understand why the protesters in Belarus are so furious with their current government.
News of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s re-election has caused protests to spread like wildfire in the city of Brest. Regarding Lukashenko’s reelection, he won over 80% of the votes and the EU has stated that it was “neither free nor fair.” Despite Belarusians wanting Lukashenko’s resignation, he will still serve his sixth term as president. Additionally, protesters are seeking equality for future presidential elections and continue hoping that the government will resign.
Amidst the protests, the United Nations is allowing for the Belarusian police to take extensive measures in order to control the protests. This grants permission for the police to use live fire on its protestors. In turn, the protestors have claimed that those acts were indeed police brutality. Because of this, over 6,000 protestors are detained and 200 others have gotten injured. For those that are detained, they are put in tight spaces with limited space, and could not have basic necessities like food and water. Moreover, there have been numerous dangerous protests in Belarus where police have acted harshly. For example, at the capital of Minsk, protesters gathered by Kammenaya Gorka train station. To fight back, the Belarusian police had used flash grenades and tear gas. Those that fled from the chaos were severely beaten with batons, while the BBC team was being harassed by the police. The news reporting team were told to stop filming on their cameras and since they did not cooperate, the police almost broke one of their cameras. Filled with anger, the guards also threatened the BBC team with batons. This only goes to prove how awful the Belarusian police can be around their own people and outsiders. Hopefully, Belarus will end their police brutality and the people will get the government they deserve.
Written by Kelly Xie from Brooklyn, New York
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