MINSK: Belarus police detained at least 250 protesters on Sunday as tens of thousands demonstrated in the capital Minsk ahead of talks between strongman Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Security forces dressed in riot gear used barbed wire to seal off the central square in the capital.
“Some 250 people were detained in various districts of the capital,” the interior ministry said in a statement, adding those arrested were carrying flags and “offensive” placards.
Saturday protests
On Saturday, at least 5,000 people marched through the city demanding the release of a jailed opposition leader in the latest in a wave of mass protests after the 9 August presidential vote.
Maria Kolesnikova, 38, has emerged as a key opposition figure after others were either jailed or forced out of the country, including Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya. who challenged President Alexander Lukashenko in the presidential election.
Kolesnikova was driven to the Ukrainian border earlier this week after being seen snatched off the streets of Minsk and into a van by masked men.
According to two allies who were with her, she prevented an attempt to expel her from Belarus by tearing her passport up into small pieces and throwing it out of a car window.
She is now detained in Minsk, and faces a potential long prison term over accusations of trying to seize power illegally.