Belarus’ riot police arrested hundreds of demonstrators and dozens of journalists Saturday in a police crackdown that seemed designed to prevent the spread of public discontent over the declining economy and the autocratic government of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The arrests, in which those seized were taken to detention centers in armored police vehicles, came after more than a month of protests across the country. Lukashenko had allowed the demonstrations take place, in what many in the country and in the West saw as a sign that the man considered to be Europe’s last dictator was softening his grip on his nation of 10 million.
