- Title: BELARUS: Opposition election challenger Vladimir Neklyayev beaten by police
- Date: 20th December 2010
- Summary: MINSK, BELARUS (DECEMBER 19, 2010) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) POLICE CAR BLOCKS WAY OF OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS OPPOSITION ARGUING WITH POLICE, CAMERA FALLS TO SNOW AS CAMERAMAN IS PUSHED TO GROUND (AUDIO OF GUNFIRE HEARD OVER ) CAMERA IS LIFTED BY SPECIAL FORCES, CONTINUES FILMING THE OPERATIVES KEEPING JOURNALISTS ON GROUND AS THEY MOVE BETWEEN THEM, CAMERA GOES BLACK AS IT
- Embargoed: 4th January 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Belarus, Belarus
- Country: Belarus
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA3AH0PIFTL4V1ICF44MXTTHQMQ
- Story Text: Police in Belarus dispersed an opposition march and beat its leader after an election on Sunday (December 19) that a pro-government pollster said veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide.
A group of about 70 demonstrators had been heading to October Square in the capital Minsk shortly before polls closed to protest against the re-election of Lukashenko to a fourth term at the helm of the ex-Soviet republic.
But police broke up the column led by opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyayev, a 64-year-old poet. He was beaten by black-clothed security forces who fired shots into the air and launched stun grenades, a Reuters eyewitness said.
Yulia Rimashevskaya, Neklyayev's press aide told Reuters that Neklyayev had been taken to hospital with a head injury.
On October Square, between 2,000 and 3,000 other opposition demonstrators rallied, chanting "Freedom!", though their slogans could scarcely be heard over loud Russian music, which was piped through loud speakers apparently deliberately by authorities. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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