Oppositional rally through Minsk without uniformed Militsiya
Around 1500 people followed the call of several opposition politicians to attend a protest march through Minsk on evening of 10 October. The rally was lead by Mikola Statkevich, social-democratic candidate in the 2010 presidential election, Vladimir Neklyayev, also candidate in 2010, and Anatoly Lebedko, head of the United Civil Party of Belarus.
The “March of the national flag” was the last action of the Belarusian opposition during this year's election campaign. It was declared a symbolic protest against the pending presidential election as well as the current authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
During the march people shouted “Long live Belarus” and “Independence!”. The demonstration started at 5 p.m. from the Liberty Square and lead along Independent Prospect, October and Victory Square, ending in the Yakub Kolas Square.
The demonstration was not accompanied by uniformed policemen, an unusual situation in the Lukashenko’s country. Nevertheless, a couple of men, supposedly working for the KGB, were sighted with recording equipment and radio devices.
All photos by Marco Fieber.
