Image by Melirius
Riot troops used truncheons and a water cannon and detained dozens of protesters as clashes escalated in Minsk and other cities on September 23 following Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s surprise swearing-in for a sixth term despite weeks of unprecedented public calls for his exit.
Lukashenka’s secretive inauguration earlier in the day immediately met with criticism from members of the opposition, who refused to accept the results of an August 9 vote following jailings and other intimidation tactics to mute dissent and limit would-be challengers in the former Soviet state of more than 9 million.
As scenes of the latest crackdown on Belarusian demonstrators emerged, the United States added its name to growing list of Western countries that responded to the swearing-in by saying they won’t recognize Lukashenka’s presidency…
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