Reporting on Belarus courage, violence and 'creepers' with cameras
almost 5 years in The guardian
Our correspondent on how a nation trying to live at arm’s length to its own government finally decided to take action
It had been clear for a while that discontent with Alexander Lukashenko’s 26-year rule in Belarus was on the rise, but it came as a surprise to most observers – and to the protesters themselves – at just how quickly it has turned into a movement threatening to topple his regime. The events in the country over the past three weeks have been some of the most fascinating, fast-moving and unpredictable of any story I’ve covered.
I arrived in Minsk on 11 August, two days after Lukashenko declared victory in elections with an implausible 80% of the vote. The protests that followed had been ruthlessly suppressed, and on the evening I showed up, riot police in balaclavas were pulling people out of their cars at random and beating them up. Continue reading...
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