As in the past, the regime met protests against the rigged Aug. 9 elections with mass arrests and beatings – but with unprecedented brutality. Systematic torture of detainees, and their parading on television, exposed a culture of sadism. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, de facto winner of the election, was coerced, in the office of the head of the Central Election Commission, into reading out a statement calling on protesters to return home. She was then bundled across the border into Lithuania.
Protests in Belarus
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Women protest against disputed presidential elections results on Independence Square in Minsk on Aug. 23, 2020.
