As the anti-government protests in Belarus entered the third day on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said that the police fired live bullets when they came under attack by protesters in the southwestern city of Brest.
Protesters carrying metal rods attacked the police, who responded with firing live bullets in self-defense, the ministry said in a statement. After the main opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya fled, clashes were reported in several cities, including Minsk.
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The protesters across the country erupted after the electoral commission announced the victory of President Alexander in Sunday’s presidential vote, which has been condemned by the EU.
According to the election officials, he won more than 80 percent of the vote on Sunday, however, there were widespread allegations of rigging by activists and other political parties. Joseph Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, told the people Belarus had shown their desire for democratic change in the country.
Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Sweden said that the EU foreign ministers would meet on Friday to discuss imposing sanctions on Belarus. The main opposition leader, Tikhanovskaya said that she complained to the electoral committee on receiving just the 10 percent of the vote; in response, she was detained for seven hours.
She had left for neighboring Lithuania on Tuesday morning. Tikhanovskaya further accused the authorities of using excessive violence, causing at least one death and several injuries. There have been numerous reports of police brutality, with many people being pulled out of their cars on the third night of the demonstrations.
As many as 200 protesters have been injured, one has died, and thousands detained. Olga Chemodanova, the spokesperson of the interior ministry, said that on Tuesday night alone, more than 1,000 were detained, and many police officers were also hurt in the unrest in Minsk and several other cities.
She added that the police were targeted by a gang of angry citizens in the city of Brest. Meanwhile, the opposition website claimed that many journalists have also been detained in the capital, Grodno and Brest. Many had their equipment either broken or confiscated by the authorities.
There were also reports of several workers going on strikes, however, the state media described this as a piece of fake news. For the news of their relatives and friends, thousands of people gathered outside the prison in Brest.
Ahead of the vote, attracted big rallies and galvanized opposition. The former teacher was a stay-at-home mother before she entered the political race after her husband was arrested and blocked from registering the vote.
