MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st November, 2020) More than 30 people have been detained during Saturday opposition protests held across Belarus, the non-governmental human rights center Viasna reports.
According to the latest update on the center's website, 33 people have been taken in by police at unauthorized anti-government demonstrations on Saturday. A vast majority of the detentions took place in the capital city of Minsk.
According to Viasna, around 150 people gathered for an unauthorized rally in Grodno on Saturday. Police dispersed the demonstrators, detaining several people.
Opposition rallies have been held every weekend in Belarus since the disputed August 9 election, which saw incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko claim a sixth term. The opposition declared that the results were fabricated and that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya had won the vote.
On October 13, ex-Belarusian presidential candidate Tikhanovskaya warned that all enterprises across the country would start a strike if Lukashenko did not resign within 13 days. Last Sunday, Tikhanovskaya announced that the opposition would start a nationwide strike beginning on Monday, after the president failed to meet the opposition's demand.
According to Viasna, over 360 people were detained in Belarus on Monday when opposition activists attempted to instigate a nationwide strike.
On Tuesday, the Belarusian capital of Minsk witnessed a number of locally-organized protest rallies. The Minsk City Police press service told Sputnik that 11 participants of the healthcare workers' protest in the Belarusian capital on Tuesday were taken to the city police office for debriefing.
