WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2020) The United States is calling on Minsk to free all political prisoners and start talks with the Coordination Council, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Thursday.
"We once again call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately cease the escalating use of violence against peaceful demonstrators, release all political prisoners and other peaceful protestors who have been detained, and engage in meaningful dialogue with the Coordination Council and Belarusian civil society," Pompeo said.
Pompeo said Washington condemns the continued detention of political prisoners in Belarus, noting that more than 100 of them are presently currently being detained over the protests.
Protests in Belarus, triggered by incumbent Alexander Lukashenko's victory in a presidential election that the opposition considers to have been rigged, have been ongoing since mid-August. The opposition and its supporters believe that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the true victor. The police forces have used tear gas, rubber bullets and other violent measures to disperse the crowds of protesters.
