At least 50 Belarus riot police drop shields and are embraced by anti-government protesters - CNN team in Minsk
CNNMinsk, Belarus CNN — At least 50 Belarus security personnel in riot gear dropped their shields and were embraced by anti-government protesters in Minsk, as demonstrators chanted “brothers” at the police. Protesters also shouted, “Sveta – President,” referring to opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya who says she won the majority in Sunday’s highly contested presidential election. Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images Opposition groups claim the election was marred by widespread ballot stuffing and fraud in order to keep Lukashenko in power, while the independent monitoring group “Honest People” said that according to its data, Tikhanovskaya had won in at least 80 polling stations across Belarus. pic.twitter.com/2fXFzuNBso — Mary Ilyushina August 14, 2020 Several people who were detained for participating in mass protests in Belarus this week allege that the country’s security forces beat, tortured and humiliated them while in government custody.