Death Penalty News

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The authoritarian president of Belarus made a dramatic show of defiance Sunday against the massive protests demanding his resignation, toting a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest as he strode off a helicopter that landed at his residence while demonstrators massed nearby. In the 15th day of the largest and most determined protests ever in independent Belarus, a crowd of about 200,000 rallied against President Alexander Lukashenko in a square in Minsk, the capital. They then marched to another rally and approached the Independence Palace, the president’s working residence. Video from the state news agency Belta showed a government helicopter landing on the grounds and Lukashenko getting off holding what appeared to be a Kalashnikov-type automatic rifle. No ammunition clip was visible in the weapon, suggesting that Lukashenko, who cultivates an aura of machismo, aimed only to make a show of aggression. Protests started Aug. 9 after a presidential el...

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Authorities in Belarus have blocked an array of news media websites reporting on the country shaken by two weeks of protests against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian Association of Journalists said Saturday that more than 20 sites had been blocked, including those of U.S.-funded Radio Liberty and Belsat, a Polish-funded satellite TV channel focusing on Belarus. On Friday, the state publishing house stopped printing top independent newspapers the Narodnaya Volya and Komsomolskaya Pravda, citing equipment malfunction. Protests unprecedented in Belarus for their size and duration broke out after the Aug. 9 presidential election in which official results handed Lukashenko a sixth term in office.  Protesters allege the results were manipulated and are calling for Lukashenko to resign. Police responded harshly in the first days of the protests, arresting some 7,000 people, beating many of them. But the protests have...

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarusian presidential challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged European Union leaders on Wednesday not to recognise what she called fraudulent election results, saying longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko had lost all legitimacy. Tsikhanouskaya was speaking from exile in neighbouring Lithuania before an emergency EU summit, due to be held by video conference, to discuss the crisis unfolding in Belarus, where the Aug.9 election sparked mass protests. Tsikhanouskaya says she was the rightful winner of the election and wants new elections to be held under some kind of international supervision. “I call on you not to recognise these fraudulent elections,” Tsikhanouskaya said, speaking in English in a video address. “Mr. Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world.” Lukashenko is struggling to contain the protests and a wave of strikes that pose the biggest challenge to his 26-year-old hold on power. He denies rigging th...

Industrial action began on Friday, with thousands of workers downing tools in state-owned factories The Belarus opposition has called for a general strike from Monday, after tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the capital Minsk for the biggest rally in recent history, a further sign that the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko is fast losing support. The opposition call for a strike follows industrial action on Friday,by thousands of workers at state-controlled factories, a traditional support base for Lukashenko. Striking workers walked out of vehicle factories, oil refineries and fabric and fertiliser manufacturers, spurred on by the level of police violence against protesters in the week since election results gave Lukashenko 80% of the vote. The authoritarian ruler on Sunday rejected calls to step down in a defiant speech, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Moscow stood ready to provide help in accordance with a collective military pact if...

Tens of thousands of opponents of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko have gathered in Minsk to protest against disputed elections. The "March for Freedom" in the centre of the capital comes amid growing anger over alleged poll-rigging and police violence at subsequent protests. Meanwhile, in an address to a smaller crowd of several thousand, Mr Lukashenko blasted opponents as "rats". He called on supporters to defend their country and independence. The rival rallies were taking place after Russia agreed to offer security assistance in the case of external military threats to Belarus. It emerged that Mr Lukashenko had twice spoken to President Vladimir Putin over the weekend. The long-time Belarus leader also voiced concerns over Nato military exercises taking place in neighbouring Poland and Lithuania and launched into a tirade against the Western military alliance. Nato - who sent four battle groups led by Britain, Canada, Germany ...

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Tens of thousands of people flooded the heart of the Belarus capital of Minsk on Friday in a show of anger over a brutal police crackdown this week on peaceful protesters that followed a disputed election, and authorities sought to ease rising public fury by freeing at least 2,000 who were jailed after earlier demonstrations. Factory workers marched across the city shouting “Go away!” in a call for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to resign after 26 years of iron-fisted rule that was extended in an election Sunday that protesters denounced as rigged. Friday's crowds grew to more than 20,000, filling central Independence Square. About a dozen soldiers guarding the nearby government headquarters lowered their riot shields in what the demonstrators saw as a sign of solidarity, and women rushed to embrace and kiss the guards. As the protesters rallied on the square, Lukashenko dismissed them as puppets manipulated from abroad. During...

Officials say the cause of death of the 25-year-old man in Gomel is unclear. His mother says he had heart problems and was kept for hours in a police van. In Brest, police said they used live bullets when they came under attack. The UN has condemned the use of violence by authorities, as protests continued for a fourth night. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said police officers were reported to have used excessive force, firing rubber bullets and water cannons, and also throwing stun grenades. "Reports suggest that more [than] approximately 6,000 people have been detained in the last three days, including bystanders, as well as minors, suggesting a trend of massive arrests in clear violation of international human rights standards," Ms Bachelet said in a statement . "Even more disturbing are the reports of ill-treatment during and after detention", she added, calling for the release of all those unlawfully detaine...

Click here to Google translate the following article into your own language Après le scrutin dimanche, elle avait enjoint le régime à "céder le pouvoir", contestant les résultats officiels donnant Alexandre Loukachenko vainqueur avec 80,08% des voix et ne lui en accordant que 10%. L'opposante Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa , rivale à la présidentielle de l'autoritaire président biélorusse, a fui en Lituanie mardi 11 août, après une deuxième nuit de protestations contre le pouvoir violemment réprimées et ayant fait un mort. Le ministre lituanien des Affaires étrangères, Linas Linkevicius, a indiqué qu'elle était "en sécurité" dans son pays, voisin de la Biélorussie. Lundi soir, son équipe avait indiqué que l'opposante était injoignable et introuvable depuis son départ de la Commission électorale, où elle avait été retenue durant des heures, alors qu'elle était venue déposer une plainte pour fraude électorale. Elle conteste les résultat...