Belarus police detain opposition protesters, journalists

MINSK: Police in Belarus detained dozens of protesters and at least five journalists on Saturday, a rights group said, as the opposition restarted rallies against strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko’s rule.

Protests erupted in the ex-Soviet country last August after Lukashenko claimed a sixth presidential term in a vote the opposition and Western diplomats said was rigged. But they died down over the winter in the wake of a violent crackdown that saw thousands of protesters detained, several killed and hundreds receive lengthy prison sentences over the unrest. The opposition Telegram channel Nexta that mobilises and coordinates protesters called this week for a "second wave" of rallies to kick off on Saturday.

The Viasna human rights group said that by 4:30 pm (1330) GMT law enforcement had detained at least 37 people including five journalists in cities across the country.

Opposition supporters in the capital Minsk had planned on gathering in the city centre by early afternoon, but were prevented from doing so by police, who cordoned off several streets, as well as a main square and park, an AFP journalist said.

Images circulating social media and published by local media showed the Minsk city centre heavily guarded by military vehicles.

Viasna said that among the journalists detained were two editors of the independent Tut.by news website.

Belarus earlier this month jailed a Tut.by journalist for six months for publishing leaked medical records showing a protester who died after being arrested by police had no alcohol in his system as law enforcement had claimed. Nexta on Saturday afternoon called for protesters to regroup and organise splintered actions all over their cities.

Protesters also gathered in scattered rallies on Thursday to mark Freedom Day in Belarus, which the opposition commemorates each year on the anniversary of a declaration of independence in 1918, with Viasna saying police detained at least 176 people over the course of the day.

Despite being slapped with EU sanctions over the violent crackdown, Lukashenko and his allies have held firm, with the strongman leader saying he has withstood a revolution directed by the West.

Meanwhile, Belarus has been rejected from participating in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands, with Minsk denouncing the decision as "politically motivated."

The European Broadcasting Union said late on Friday that "regrettably, Belarus will not be participating" in the May contest in the Dutch city of Rotterdam even after it had submitted a new entry following problems with the original.