UPRISING

100,000 March in Belarus Capital to Demand That Dictator Lukashenko Resign

The unprecedented protests against President Alexander Lukashenko are entering their fifth week.

An estimated 100,000 protesters took to the streets of Minsk on Sunday, calling for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to resign. The police and army prevented demonstrators from entering the center of Minsk, the Associated Press reports, and crowds diverted to the Palace of Independence, the Belarusian leader’s working residence, where riot police kept the crowds at bay. The civil unrest first began after Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, won an Aug. 9 presidential vote with a purported 80 percent of the vote, sparking accusations of rigging. In the five weeks since, troops have violently cracked down on protesters and the press, making at least 7,000 arrests, revoking credentials for Belarusian journalists, and expelling foreign reporters.