Revolt in Belarus after Lukashenko's secret investiture

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The streets of Minsk vibrate in the night. The capital is nothing more than a long and haunting sound of horns. The old flag of Belarus, which has become the official banner of the protest that has shaken the country since August 9, flies over bridges, buildings and the shoulders of thousands of demonstrators marching in the city center.

It is a disorderly movement, made up of several groups of a few hundred people, which seizes the city this Wednesday, September 23. The response of the police is brutal. Mobilized for weeks to suppress an unprecedented protest movement, they run after the protesters and violently arrest them. The atmosphere and images of wounded Belarusians remind some of the first rallies that rocked the country on August 9, 10 and 11. This night too, the revolution seems to be at a turning point.

A few hours earlier, in the morning, the official investiture ceremony of Alexander Lukashenko for a sixth term was held in the greatest secrecy, to avoid it being disturbed by demonstrations. The images of the lightning passage of the presidential convoy in the arteries of the capital blocked by the police had started to create suspicions, since the president had, legally, until October 9 to take the oath. It is now done, and too bad if this ceremony on the sly risks above all appearing as a new sign of weakness.

A new course

The enthronement of Alexander Lukashenko at the head of this country of 9.5 million inhabitants was not broadcast live on television and radio as is usually the case. Confirmation, after the fact, came from state news agencies.

We have not only elected a president, we have defended our values, peace, sovereignty and independence declared the man in power for twenty six years in front of a few hundred supporters of the regime. Some of them said they were summoned at the last moment, without knowing where they were going.