Death Penalty News

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...

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarusian opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanouskaya said on Monday she refused to recognise official results that showed incumbent Alexander Lukashenko had won a landslide re-election victory. Preliminary official results earlier on Monday showed that Lukashenko had won 80% of the vote in Sunday’s election.  Tikhanouskaya, a former English teacher who emerged from obscurity to become his main rival, won 9.9% of the vote, the data showed. Tikhanouskaya told reporters in Minsk she considered herself the election winner not Lukashenko.  She said the election had been massively rigged. RELATED |  The Leader of Europe's 'Last Dictatorship' Is Facing an Unprecedented Challenge. Here's What It Could Mean for Belarus RELATED  |  Belarus election: Clashes after poll predicts Lukashenko re-election Her aides said the opposition wanted a vote recount at polling stations where there were problems. They also said the o...

Europe’s longest serving leader Alexander Lukashenko has long worked hard to seem invincible. He has dominated past elections that the U.S. has deemed neither free nor fair and brokered no dissent and suppressed protests. Now, he is facing an unprecedented challenge as he runs for a sixth term as president of Belarus in elections on August 9. A former teacher and political novice, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has emerged as his main rival, pledging to topple Lukashenko’s regime and restore democracy. Tens of thousands have rallied across Belarus in some of the country’s biggest opposition protests in a decade, amid mounting frustration over the government’s mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis , combined with grievances about the economy. Referring to Lukashenko, protestors chanted ‘stop the cockroach’ and held placards reading ‘change!’ . “For the first time in his 26-year rule, Lukashenko knows the majority don’t support him,” says Aleksandr Feduta, a former aide to the incum...

Protesters and riot police have clashed in Belarus' capital Minsk and other cities, after a state TV exit poll said long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected in Sunday's election. In Minsk, the police used stun grenades to disperse crowds in the city centre. There have been reports of injuries. The state TV exit poll showed that Mr Lukashenko won nearly 80% of the vote. Main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she did not trust the figures which gave her 7%. "I believe my eyes, and I see that the majority is with us," she said at a news conference on Sunday evening. The opposition had said it expected the vote to be rigged, saying it would keep an alternative count of the votes. Ms Tikhanovskaya, 37, entered the election in place of her jailed husband and went on to lead large opposition rallies. Mr Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has vowed that the situation in the country will remain "under control". ...

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...

EU leaders will hold a special online summit on Wednesday (19 August) backing Belarusian protesters and telling Russia not to interfere, top EU officials said on Monday. European Council president Charles Michel called for the extraordinary video summit as mass protests continued in Belarus against long-time president Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed a landslide victory in an election on 9 August, which the opposition says was rigged. Lukashenko's security forces brutally cracked down on initial protests, which prompted the biggest rally in the country's modern history over the weekend against the strongman. "The people of Belarus have the right to decide on their future and freely elect their leader," said Michel in a tweet announcing the summit of the 27 leaders. "Violence against protesters is unacceptable and cannot be allowed," he added. EU leaders are also expected to send a message to Russia not to meddle in Belarus, as Russian...