Belarus opposition leader threatens nationwide strike
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The top opposition challenger in the Belarusian presidential election threatened Tuesday to call a nationwide strike unless the country's authoritarian president announces his resignation, releases political prisoners and stops his government's violent crackdown on protesters.
“If our demands aren't fulfilled by Oct. 25, the entire country will peacefully take to the streets,” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in a statement issued from Vilnius, Lithuania, where she's in exile after leaving Belarus under pressure from authorities after the country's disputed Aug. 9 presidential election.
“On Oct. 26, a national strike of all enterprises will begin, all roads will be blocked, sales in state-owned stores will collapse. You have 13 days to fulfil three conditions. We have 13 days to prepare, and in the meantime Belarusians will continue their peaceful and persistent protest,” the statement said.
Belarus has been rocked by mass protests since Aug. 9, when results of a presidential election reportedly handed President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. Tsikhanouskaya, who officials claim got only 10% of the vote, and her supporters refused to recognize the results as valid, saying they were riddled with fraud. The European Union and the United States have also refused to recognize the official results of the vote.
The rallies, some of which drew up to 200,000 people demanding the president's resignation, posed the biggest challenge yet to Lukashenko, who has run the country for 26 years, relentlessly repressing the opposition and independent media.
In the first days of the protests, Belarusian authorities cracked down brutally on protesters, with police detaining thousands and beating scores. The government has since maintained the pressure, detaining hundreds of protesters and...
