Thousands of people protested today in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to honor the opposition figure who died after being detained.
The police arrested Roman Bondarenko (31) on Wednesday after a clash between residents and masked people who were removing red and white ribbons, the colors of the opposition, hung in the yard of a building in Minsk. He died a day later in hospital from head injuries amid widespread suspicions that he had been beaten in custody.
At the invitation of the head of the opposition, Svetlana Tihanovska, hundreds of people came out today in silence to the courtyard of that building, where flowers and candles were left.
The Square of Changes, as it is called, has become a symbolic place for the opposition in recent months, covered with messages against President Alexander Lukashenko and red and white ribbons as a symbol of the opposition, which the authorities regularly remove.
In the capital, groups of outraged residents also formed human chains along several streets today. Some wore red and white ribbons, others black ribbons and some showed the V sign for victory, while cars honked their horns in support.
Similar gatherings were organized in other cities in the country, two days before the now usual Sunday protest against Lukashenko.
The announcement of Bondarenko's death in the independent media last night caused great emotions in Belarus, where protests against President Alexander Lukashenko have been ongoing since the beginning of August.
Belarus has been in a political crisis since August, since the presidential elections, when mass anti-government protests began across the country, initiated by the official results of the vote, according to which Lukashenko won more than 80 percent of the vote. Opponents of Lukashenko claim that the elections were stolen.
In a statement, Svetlana Tihanovska called for honoring "a man who was killed because he wanted to live in a free country."
Today, the European Union announced the possibility of introducing additional sanctions and condemned the continued violence of the Belarusian authorities, where a 31-year-old opposition supporter died in hospital after, as reported, he was beaten by security forces.
Since the beginning of the protests, at least four people have died during the demonstrations or after being detained by the police.
Today, at a press conference, Lukashenko expressed his condolences and ordered a "fair and objective" investigation into the circumstances of Roman Bondarenko's death.
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