Belarus Opens Total Of 935 Criminal Cases Linked To Minsk Anti-Gov't Riots - Investigators

The Belarusian law enforcement authorities have opened 935 criminal cases related to the unauthorized anti-government rallies in Minsk since the protests broke out in the wake of the presidential election in August, Sergei Pasko, the head of the Investigative Committee's Minsk department, said on Tuesday

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2021) The Belarusian law enforcement authorities have opened 935 criminal cases related to the unauthorized anti-government rallies in Minsk since the protests broke out in the wake of the presidential election in August, Sergei Pasko, the head of the Investigative Committee's Minsk department, said on Tuesday.

"Since the start of the mass unauthorized rallies in the capital city in August last year, 935 criminal cases that are directly related to the riots have been opened. Of those, 221 have been taken to court," Pasko said, as quoted by the state-run Belta news agency, adding that 10 percent of all criminal cases opened over the past two months alone were linked to the riots.

Mass anti-governmental rallies swept through Belarus after the August 9 election, which saw President Alexander Lukashenko enter his sixth term. The protests were marked by police brutality against demonstrators, with hundreds of people injured, several fatalities and thousands of arrests.

The Belarusian opposition rejects the official results of the election, according to which Lukashenko received over 80 percent of the vote. It backs the expansion of international sanctions against Minsk, previously adopted by Western countries.