Live Updates: Security Forces Detain at Least 140 Protesters at Opposition Rally in Minsk

Nikolai Latyshenok, an aid to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, told protesters who gathered outside the presidential residence in Minsk on Sunday that he believed 20 to 30 percent of citizens at best were against the incumbent.

"I have not been to the polling stations. Now about 20-30 percent [are against Lukashenko] but [this figure] was less. Now people have been provoked. At the moment, maybe [20-30 percent], but this is the maximum figure that I can imagine in my head. I do not have exact numbers, either from one side or the other. This is what I think", Latyshenok said.

MINSK (Sputnik) - A brutal crackdown on protests in Minsk after the presidential election in Belarus only happened because demonstrators started erecting barricades, a presidential aide said Sunday.

"It was because people had built barricades. And, secondly, they blocked the roads and made it difficult for ordinary citizens to move around the city", Nikolai Latyshenok told Sputnik during a meeting with protesters outside the presidential residence.

Latyshenok, Alexander Lukashenko’s aide in charge of general affairs, confirmed to the crowd protesting outside the residence that the president was inside the Independence Palace.

PARIS (Sputnik) - French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned in a statement on Sunday actions of the Belarusian authorities against reporters covering nationwide protests against the outcome of the presidential election.

"Arbitrary measures taken by the Belarusian authorities against journalists violate the freedom of the press. I condemn them", the statement published on the Foreign Ministry's website said.

Le Drian urged Minsk to cancel the measures affecting journalists and stressed that an inclusive national dialogue should be established in Belarus.

On Thursday, about 50 reporters, who came to the country to cover an unauthorized opposition rally in Minsk, were detained by the police. Most of them were subsequently released. The ministry added that one of them faced charges in an administrative case and one foreign journalist "was voluntarily expelled from the country." On Saturday, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry withdrew the accreditation of four journalists holding Russian citizenship and working for Western media outlets and expelled them. The Belarusian Association of Journalists then reported that accreditation of 10 more journalists was halted by Minsk.

#Минск в эти минуты у резиденции Луки #беларусь pic.twitter.com/9y9IeMX33a

— Kavkaz Center (@newkc14) August 30, 2020

MINSK (Sputnik) - Belarusian security forces deployed special equipment and arrested 125 people during an ongoing anti-government protest in Minsk by 13:00 GMT on Sunday, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said.

"As of 04:00 p.m. local time [13:00 GMT], 125 citizens were detained in Minsk, and an administrative process was initiated against them for participating in unauthorised mass rallies … the special equipment and gear is used", the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman added that the ministry had repeatedly called on people to avoid participating in unauthorised protests and involving children in such rallies.

Уважаемые абоненты!
По распоряжению уполномоченных государственных органов на территории г. Минска снижена пропускная способность мобильного интернета.
Выполнение требования ведет к ухудшению качества сервиса передачи данных или временной недоступности услуги.

— А1 Беларусь (@a1belarus) August 30, 2020