2011 Belarusian protests

The 2011 Belarusian protests were a series of peaceful protests by demonstrators in Belarus demanding the resignation of current Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who had been the president of Belarus since 1994.[1][2] Belarus is an authoritarian state, and in May 2011 presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov was sentenced to five years in prison for taking part in the Dec 2010 election. Lukashenko claims he won that election with almost 80% of the vote.[3]

2011 Belarusian protests
Date23 May 2011 (2011-05-23) – 17 August 2011 (2011-08-18)
(2 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
Location
 Belarus
Caused byEconomic crisis , Autocracy, Devaulation of Belarusian Ruble
GoalsDemocracy; resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko
MethodsPolitical lobbying, public rallies, demonstrations, riots, industrial action.
Resulted inCurrently unclear
Lead figures
18 injuries, including 2 police officers

Context

Lukashenko is known as "Europe's last dictator".[4]

On 29 June 2011, hundreds of people gathered in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to protest against the rule of Alexander Lukashenko. Belarus has been affected by a severe economic crisis, inspiring this demonstration to happen. Unlike previous demonstrations, the protesters this time just simply applauded. It was not long before people were forced on to police buses, and about 40 were detained.

Protest chronicle

June 8th
  • On June 8, the first action took place. At 7 p.m. on the central square of the city of Minsk, on Kastrychnitskaya Square, about 400 people gathered together in response to an appeal in the Internet to come to the main squares of the cities to take part in a silent protest action "Revolution through the social network". At the beginning of the action, the participants stood disorganized in small groups, occupying a significant part of the square. At around 7:10 p.m., the participants began to applaud spontaneously, after which a dense ring of protesters and journalists formed in the centre of the square. People standing in the center of the ring sang songs and played the guitar.
  • The action was watched by members of the special forces police regiment, as well as people with civilian walkie-talkies. Special forces were on duty not far from the crowd, while the plain clothes officers were constantly in the center of the event, without interfering in the course of the peaceful action. Around 7:45 p.m., the participants began to disperse. Only a few dozen people remained on the square.
  • In Mogilev, on Lenin Square near the House of Soviets, about 80 people gathered at the call. Young people prevailed among the participants of the action. According to some participants of the action, they were largely inspired by the action "Stop Petrol," held the day before in Minsk.
  • About 200 people gathered on Lenin Square in Brest. The participants of the action did not shout out slogans and were without banners. They were walking and talking. Some of the passing by cars were signaling in support of the participants' action. The order was observed by two people in police uniforms, as well as by KGB officers. The action lasted from 18:50 to 19:30 and ended with applause.
  • About 200 people gathered on Lenin Square in the center of Gomel. The action was attended by famous Gomel musicians, representatives of informal youth movements.

The protests and reaction

On 3 July, the Belarusian independence day, about 3000 demonstrators took part in a "clapping protest" in the main square of Minsk, in which protesters clapped instead of chanting slogans. Plain clothed police later came, and arrested many protesters, including arresting a one-armed man for clapping, and a deaf-mute for shouting anti-government slogans.[5] Lukashenko and the state police were awarded the 2013 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for these actions.[6]

The government also began blocking social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.[7][8]

Much of the protesting fervor stemmed from a rapidly degrading economy that Belarus had been facing in the months before the protests; and the opposition movement predicted that come autumn, the protests will escalate greatly as working class citizens would demonstrate their frustration over the economy.[9]

Following the protest on 3 July 2011, activists widened their tactics of civil disobedience, including distributing videos of police brutality to random citizens, in order to help bolster sympathy against the authoritarian aspect of the government.[10]

On 13 July, hundreds of people showed up in Minsk with cellphones set to go off at 8 am, in gesture to tell people to "wake up". Several dozen people were arrested by the police.[11]

On 29 July, the government banned assemblies and gatherings, making them illegal.[12]

Legacy

The focus of the protests, President Lukashenko, remains in office.

See also

References
  1. "Belarus: Lukashenko vows to quell 'revolution plot'". BBC News. 3 July 2011.
  2. "Hundreds Arrested in Belarus' Silent Protest". 4 July 2011.
  3. Marson, James (14 May 2011). "Belarus Presidential Runner-Up Sentenced to Prison". The Wall Street Journal.
  4. Andrew Osborn (20 December 2010). "Alexander Lukashenko: "Europe's last dictator"". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  5. Weir, Fred (8 July 2011). "In Belarus, one-armed man arrested for clapping". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  6. "Winner if the Ig Nobel Prize". Annals of Improbable Research. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. Mary. "Belarus blocks Twitter and Facebook in bid to prevent protests".
  8. Balmforth, Richard (3 July 2011). "UPDATE 2-Belarus police arrest protesters at anti-Lukashenko rallies". Reuters.
  9. "Lukashenko nears crunch time, says Belarus opposition". Reuters. 6 July 2011.
  10. Motlagh, Jason (12 July 2011). "Protesters broaden tactics as Belarus cracks down" – via Christian Science Monitor.
  11. "100 detained in Belarus protests – NEWS FROM BELARUS". Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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