Police tactics: the siege
Police arrests all those who try to go to the October square with big bags, food and hot drinks. That’s the tacticts they chose: they don’t touch the people on the October square, but they sort of put it under siege, hoping that people will freeze, starve and go home.
So far, there are conflicting reports as for the number of detained activists, but for sure at least 50-100 people were arrested of those who tried to bring food to the protesters. Among them is the chief editor of a well-known Belarusian newspaper “Nasha Niva” Andrej Dynko. One famous theater director and several politicians went missing (probably, also arrested).
About 300-500 people spent the whole night on the square at subzero tempretures, and now their numbers are slowly growing. Many more people are expected to join them in the evening, if they will be able to pass through police blocks.
Night:
Morning:
March 21st, 2006 at 1:07 pm
finding the way around the police blocks was more or less a question of luck… The Special Ops patrol simply told us to turn around when we tried to walk from the Freedom square to the October square [whats that there? sandwiches? get lost NOW!], also,
the former Skaryna ave. was blocked on the Victory square in the direction of October square when we tried to pass there in a taxi, yet, we made it by simply walking from the Victory sq along Skaryna ave by foot and then through the underground passage. All in all, I expected the siege to be much tougher, I even thought they’d make a complete circle around the protesters. Apparently there are some circumstances that are preventing the authorities from making a usual crackdown. Anyway, we stood for full 12 hours (minus a 2 hour break) and will try to be there ASAP today again. From the latest reports it seems like people are getting arrested right on the October square bus stop before they manage to join the camp.
March 21st, 2006 at 1:35 pm
brat_marakasau: Dziakuj! I’m so glad you left your comment here. I was actually wondering if you are on the square!
March 21st, 2006 at 2:43 pm
I was the whole night on the square, and it will try to be there today again. Long live Belarus!
March 21st, 2006 at 3:29 pm
May God bless these courageous Belarusians, young and old, in their stand for human freedom and dignity against dictatorship! Zhyvye Byelarus’!
March 21st, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Verhaftungen von Oppositionsführern in Belarus
In Minsk wurden heute morgen nach Angaben von tagesschau.de vier Mitarbeiter des Stabes von Oppositionsführer Alyaksandr Milinkevich, darunter auch der populäre Chef der Vereinigten Bürgerpartei Anatoli Lebedko, grundlos verhaftet.
Außer den Mit…
March 21st, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Keep up the pressure! Lukashenko is afraid of you, which is why yells but does nothing while the world watches. I hope more of you come back to the square in larger numbers which surely prevents any real police action.
March 21st, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Polish deputy was arrested today in Minsk. He took some protesters to restaurant,when he walked out to exchange money.He will stand before court tomorrow.Here’e the story (in polish):
http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1282293,12,item.html
Poland is with You!
Stay safe
March 21st, 2006 at 8:06 pm
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” — Mahatma Ghandi.
You carry the torch of freedom with you: Its mere existence increasingly fills dark corners with light, and its flame is spread to all those who touch it without loss to itself. Remember: Light never runs away from darkness, but darkness always retreats when light is near.
May God bless you, may He deliver you from evil, and may His judgement fall on Lukashenko. Long live a free Belarus.
March 22nd, 2006 at 10:23 am
there are more and more people coming each day. Let’s pray that the burgeoning “people’s protest” wouldn’t turn into a stage for the “hardcore protesters” and other marginalized fractions in the popular view. people were coming not because of any political slogans, but simply being responsible citizens who do not see any other effective way to be heard and stop the ongoing paranoia. THIS IS THE FOREMOST ACHIEVEMENT OF THESE PROTESTS: let’s realize that there were no organized buses to come there, no food, no subsidized or free tents (people gathered money and bought them), no party leaders (Milinkevich is an NGO activist, not a politician, after all!), nothing, except each person’s own will. people came on their own. now consider that even Lukashenko’s most fervent supporters wouldn’t dare imagine that at least 10 000 people could ever come support any of his initiatives (unless, of course, if their superiors force them to). now, if only we could bring some hot water or water boilers there… [desperate] almost every single person on the way there is being searched, but anyway food is not a problem… (for example, I hid a string of wiener sausages by passing it under the sweater from lefthand sleeve to the righthand sleeve :) but the absence of hot water is killing us
March 22nd, 2006 at 10:27 am
another thing: we continue cheering and thanking the journalists. Special thanks to the Polish TV crew, and the rest of the brave people with cameras. THANK YOU! our voices would be muted without your help