Two opposition leaders have been jailed for 10 days each in Belarus, as the government seeks to suppress the few influential opposition figures still at large in the country amid a new protest of thousands led by schoolteachers against President Alexander Lukashenko.
Despite most major opposition figures being in jail or exile, President Lukashenko has so far failed to put down protests against his 26-year-old rule, more than two weeks after an election his opponents say was rigged.
The opposition leaders, Olga Kovalkova and Siarhei Dyleuski were brought to separate courts where they were each jailed for 10 days. Kovalkova is the main representative still in Belarus of opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya whiles Dyleuski has led strikes at Minsk’s flagship tractor factory.
Both are senior figures in an Opposition Coordination Council set up last week with the self-described aim of negotiating with the authorities. They were arrested on Monday. President Lukashenko has accused the new council of attempting to seize power leading to prosecutors launching a criminal case.
In the latest protest, thousands gathered on Tuesday at the Ministry of Education to demonstrate against a threat by the President to fire any schoolteachers who do not support his government. Rallies have typically attracted thousands during the week, swelling to tens of thousands on weekends.
“I have come so that teachers are not afraid, so that their voice can be heard, so that they can work even if they have a different view from the authorities,” said Svetlana, a literature teacher.
President Lukashenko has denied all claims of electoral fraud and called the protesters “rats” adding that they are funded from abroad.
His posturing has grown steadily more confrontational and in recent days, he has been pictured on state television with a Kalashnikov rifle and tactical vest. A long-standing threat of a decisive police operation to clear the protestors off the streets has yet to yield any results.
Another opposition council member, Pavel Latushko, a former culture minister and head of the main state drama theatre, was questioned by investigators on Tuesday but not arrested. He emerged saying he would go back to work and the council’s activities were not illegal.
Nobel Prize-winning author, Svetlana Alexievich has also been summoned for questioning on Wednesday by authorities.
“The intimidation will not work. We will not relent,” candidate Tsikhanouskaya said in a video link with the European Parliament. “We demand all political prisoners freed. We demand to stop the violence and intimidation by the authorities.”
Tsikhanouskaya fled to Lithuania after the election her supporters say she won. Despite being a political novice, she emerged as the leading opposition candidate after better-known figures were barred from standing, including her jailed activist husband.
The crises threatens to hurt the finances of a country with only limited foreign reserves. The Belarus rouble fell to a new low against the euro, and there have been queues at exchange points as Belarusians try to buy hard currency.
