Belarusians pay tribute to man killed during post-election protests, large anti-government rally held in Minsk

RFE/RL
Mon, 17 Aug 2020 10:11 UTC

This image taken from the Associated Press footage filmed on August 10 shows a protester identified as Alyaksandr Taraykouski with a wound during a rally in Minsk after the Belarusian presidential election.

Taraykouski's family urged protesters not to attend a funeral church service and instead gather near the subway station where he died.

Despite the plea, hundreds gathered outside the church service waving flags and photos of Taraykouski.

Hundreds of others entered the hall where the ceremony took place to lay flowers and wreaths.

At least two people have been killed, hundreds injured, and thousands detained in protests since the controversial August 9 election that saw Lukashenka, in power since 1994, declared the winner.

Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called for more peaceful rallies.

Comment: RT provides more details on the incident:

Videos posted online show the chilling moment a young protester falls to the ground during clashes with police in Belarus.

A clip first released by AP shows police officers in full riot gear lined up on the street. A man in a bloodied white T-shirt, who was believed to be Taraikovsky, collapses on the ground.

Videos filmed from other angles and published in local media show the same man approaching the officers with his hands up in the air. He then falls to the ground after one of the officers appears to fire a projectile in his direction.

Authorities claim that Taraikovsky died after being injured by a home-made explosive device he allegedly tried to hurl at the officers. His wife Elena German told the media that she believed Taraikovsky was fatally shot by police.

German, who confirmed that Taraikovsky was the man in the videos, told AP that she saw what appeared to be a wound to his chest when she saw her husband's body in a morgue on Friday, while his hands and feet were "completely intact."

Activists and some media outlets insist that the now-released footage debunks the allegations that Taraikovsky had a bomb, because the available clips do not show him holding anything in his hands.

© Viktor Tolochko / Sputnik

Thousands attended Taraikovsky's funeral procession on Saturday, bringing wreaths and flowers, and carrying Belarus' historic white-red-white flags that are being widely adopted by the opposition.

Lukashenko, meanwhile, has argued that the protests were incited by foreign protagonists wishing to destabilize the situation in the country.

Comment: More coverage of the continuing protests from RT:

Anti-government sentiment shows no sign of quieting down in Belarus with tens of thousands attending a protest in the capital, Minsk on Sunday. Hours earlier, a pro-government rally was held in the city.

The demonstration is taking place exactly one week after the controversial presidential election in Belarus. The outcome, which gave incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko his sixth term, was rejected by the opposition, who accused the government of rigging the vote. A police crackdown launched against them angered the general public, with mass protests and walkouts held throughout the week.

Sunday's protest in Minsk is focused around a memorial to the fight against Nazi Germany, which is located near a war museum and that has a lot of space around it.

Some estimates say as many as 100,000 people or even more may be attending, which would be an impressive achievement for the opposition since Minsk only has around two million residents.

Smaller but nevertheless massive rallies were held in other Belarusian cities like Grodno and Brest.

The demonstrators demand that Lukashenko stand down, while calling for justice for the victims of police brutality which occurred in the days after last week's vote.

Lukashenko rejected all calls to review the results of the election, and has repeatedly referred to his critics as troublemakers trying to oust him in a foreign-orchestrated campaign.

Earlier on Sunday, a pro-government demonstration was held in Minsk with hundreds of thousands of people attending. The president appeared at the rally to thank his supporters and to declare that he would not bow to the pressure because doing so would mean forsaking his country.

Opposition media reported that many of the participants of that rally were brought from outside the city and made to participate under duress.

See also:

• Extensive foreign interference in Belarus attempts to 'destabilize' country, but it's not coming from Moscow - Russian MFA
• Belarus in the firing line for a colour revolution
• The Saker: A quick update on Belarus