The Russia-based Daily Storm news outlet had its journalists Anton Starkov and Dmitriy Lasenko beaten up and detained in the Belarusian capital of Minsk as they covered the presidential election, editor-in-chief Alena Sivkova told Sputnik on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2020) The Russia-based Daily Storm news outlet had its journalists Anton Starkov and Dmitriy Lasenko beaten up and detained in the Belarusian capital of Minsk as they covered the presidential election, editor-in-chief Alena Sivkova told Sputnik on Monday.
Since Sunday, when Belarus voted to choose a president, several other Russian media reported assault of their journalists covering the election. The Dozhd broadcaster said its crew were detained and issued a five year entry ban to Belarus.
"They indeed said that they had been beaten up. What I know at this point is that they are in a five by five [meters, equivalent to 16x16 feet] cell. It seems the guys have some access, communication, and they said they were fine. I know that another guy, Maksim [Solopov] from Meduza [another independent Russian media outlet], got a lot more than my [employees]," Sivkova said.
According to the Daily Storm editor, the detained journalists are texting back what is happening with them, but have no internet access.
"The Foreign Ministry says there are no detained individuals, but in actuality a lot of our journalists are detained there," Sivkova said, adding that the news outlet was working to ensure that the staff are released.
After polling stations closed on Sunday evening, protests engulfed Minsk until the morning of Monday. Police used water cannons, stun grenades and, according to several sources, rubber bullets to disperse the protesters. Clashes ensued and an unspecified number of people were arrested.
Earlier in the day, the Russian embassy in Minsk said they had not been informed by the Belarusian law enforcement of any Russian nationals among the detained individuals, adding that diplomats were fact checking the reports at that point.
According to preliminary results, the election ended with incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, winning over 80 percent of the vote. Main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya received 8 percent of the ballots. Her campaign has said it does not recognize the results, adding that Tikhanovskaya had secured between 70 and 90 percent of the ballots at some polling places.
