A worker at Belarusian potash fertilizer plant Belaruskali on Thursday chained himself to metal structures in the plant's mine and refused to go up to the surface in a bid to protest the policies of the current Belarusian leadership, the company's strike committee said
MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2020) A worker at Belarusian potash fertilizer plant Belaruskali on Thursday chained himself to metal structures in the plant's mine and refused to go up to the surface in a bid to protest the policies of the current Belarusian leadership, the company's strike committee said.
"Today, after a night shift, having chained himself to metal structures [in the mine] ... master shotfirer Kurban Alexander Ivanovich refused to go to the surface," the committee wrote on Telegram, adding that the miner was protesting against "criminal actions of the county's illegal leadership."
The committee later said that the protester has been lifted to the surface.
Mass opposition protests broke out across Belarus following a presidential election on August 9 that saw incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko reelected for a sixth term. While the electoral commission declared that Lukashenko collected over 80 percent of the vote, the opposition insists that his key contender, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, won the election.
Calls for country-wide strike were voiced after the demonstrations were harshly suppressed by the security forces during the first several days of the unrest.
Earlier this week, Belarusian opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya warned that all the enterprises across the country would start a strike if the government failed to fulfill three demands: Lukashenko's resignation, end of violence against protesters and release of all political prisoners.
