© Sputnik / Viktor TolochkoBelarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks at a rally organized in support of him on Independence square in Minsk.
Speaking before a gathering of his supporters, Lukashenko also claimed that most images showing injuries caused by law enforcement officers are fake. "60 percent of pictures showing bruising are staged photos," he said in his speech.
Belarus is currently in the midst of a political crisis caused by mass unrest following August 9's disputed presidential election. According to the official vote tally, Lukashenko won 80 percent of the vote, with leading opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya being awarded just 10 percent. But the opposition says the ballot was rigged and Tikhanovskaya was the real winner.
In the aftermath of the election, tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets around the country to demand a free and fair contest, and some factory workers went on strike. Since the protests started, there have been numerous reports of protesters being attacked, and even videos showing the torture of detainees in jail. The Belarusian authorities also reported the death of three demonstrators.
In the face of violence, Lukashenko urged his crowd to "forgive" the offending policemen, highlighting that they are a necessary part of keeping the country safe. "What will you do if you see a robbery on the street? Who will you call?" he asked. "Don't kill these people. These are your people. Even if they made a mistake somewhere, forgive them."
Despite asking for the police to be forgiven, the Belarusian president made it clear he wasn't willing to forgive the country's striking workforce, and threatened to close factories from Monday. However, according to Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, all are currently operating normally.
Belarusian opposition leader Tikhanovskaya says Lukashenko will 'have to leave'
Exiled Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has revealed she will meet with US diplomat Stephen Biegun to discuss this month's disputed election, controversially awarded to incumbent Alexander Lukashenko.
She has also said Lukashenko "will have to leave" office. Tikhanovskaya's meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will take place in Lithuania on Monday and focus on the current crisis in Belarus, prompted by the controversial presidential election, her team told Reuters on Saturday, during an online interview she was giving to the news agency.
"During the campaign, I didn't see myself as a politician, but I pushed myself forward," she told Reuters from Lithuania, where she and her family fled after an alleged attempt on her life that was uncovered by the Belarusian authorities. "I don't see myself in politics. I am not a politician."
© REUTERS/Vasily FedosenkoExiled Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
Tikhanovskaya has been sharing videos on social media in support of the ongoing protests, and says she has been in contact with officials from countries that include the US, Canada, Germany, Britain, Poland, and more. "I asked everybody to respect the independence of our country, the sovereignty of our country," she said.
Western nations, including the US and member states of the EU, have publicly refused to recognize the results of the Belarusian elections as legitimate, but stopped short of proclaiming Tikhanovskaya the winner. Instead, they want a new election - a demand Lukashenko has rejected, saying he would offer the opposition a recount, but won't give in to outside pressure.
The embattled president says the anti-government protests are being directed from abroad, particularly from Lithuania and Poland, and has claimed there's a NATO buildup accompanying the "regime change" plot. On Saturday, he ramped up this rhetoric, saying Belarusian forces will "react without warning" to any attempt at border infiltration.
Following a tough police response to the post-election protests across Belarus, the show of public support for Lukashenko from even the nation's closest ally, Russia, has been muted, although President Vladimir Putin did formally congratulate him for another term in office. Lukashenko told RT on Saturday that Putin "agrees" with him that the ongoing unrest in Belarus is a "trampoline" to a foreign-backed plot targeting Russia.
The Belarusian leader has publicly declared he has Russia's full backing - the two nations are both members of the Union State and the Collective Security Treaty Organization - but the Kremlin has clarified that any military help is limited to cases of foreign invasion, and no troops have been sent to Belarus in support. Moscow added that any outside interference in the country would be "unacceptable," while adding Belarus has been coping with the situation just fine on its own.
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