'It's outrageous': Belarus election result sparks night of defiance and violence
Source: The Guardian
Speaking to protesters, there was a sense that young Belarusians had lost their fear of the government as the mood turned darker over an election they believe was stolen from the challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
“We’re tired of this rudeness, this nastiness,” said a protester in Minsk who was wearing a dark T-shirt and a mask and declined to give his name. “We’re tired of these numbers, which are a spit in the face.”
“Everyone has come out because we have been cheated,” said another man, a plumber. “When they gave her [Tikhanovskaya] just 6%, and she had actually won 70%, it was outrageous.”
Flashes of stun grenades echoed off the tower blocks near the Stela second world war memorial in Minsk, where thousands gathered holding up phone torches like a rock concert. The mood differed from the euphoria of the pro-Tikhanovskaya rallies that had been some of the country’s largest since the Soviet Union, where 63,000 gathered in a Minsk square and sang Soviet-era protest anthems.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/its-outrageous-belarus-election-result-sparks-night-of-defiance-and-violence
This looks like another stolen election, by brute force. Polls before the election showed Svetlana Tikhanovskaya with upwards of 80% of the vote, and when the announcement came out, Lukashenko wins by 80%! You know Putin is all over this one, this being one of the old Soviet republics. This better not be any fucking dress rehearsal for our election in November. You think we've seen riots so far this year?
What is also a little scary here is the number of media stories that do not even mention that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was up big before the election. And there is a definite slant towards Lukashenko.
We have to help Belarus, but, fuck, with this clown in the White House?
= new reply since forum marked as read
