BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/10/2007

Belarus opposition stages big "European march"

MINSK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Some 6,000 demonstrators marched through Belarus's capital on Sunday to denounce the policies of President Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing fundamental rights.

The number was smaller than the 10,000 to 30,000 that organisers had hoped would turn out for the "European March" to try to show the ex-Soviet state wants to move closer to Europe.

Some protesters gathered initially in the city centre in sunny, but chilly, autumn weather. They split into two groups before a small crowd massed in a remote park -- the only site authorised by city authorities.

"We have staged this march for the benefit of a free Belarus, to say that we are moving towards Europe," said Alexander Milinkevich, the opposition leader who challenged Lukashenko in elections last year.

"People ask me how often we will do this -- I say we will do so until we win."

Milinkievich said more than 50 opposition activists had been detained in the run-up to the protest. Neither he nor other opposition leaders appeared at the later rally in the park.

Demonstrators shouted "Long live Belarus" and "Belarus in Europe". Many carried blue European flags and the banned red-and-white Belarussian national flag.

Minor scuffles erupted with police, who showed restraint in trying to keep marchers off major thoroughfares.

The liberal and nationalist opposition achieved rare unity last year in backing Milinkevich, an academic, in the election which Lukashenko won in a landslide.

Lukashenko, who was re-elected to a third term, was accused of hounding opponents, muzzling the independent media and systematically rigging elections.

The opposition, disparate and fractious at the best of times, split earlier this year, but had announced it was staging Sunday's event as a united front. Differences clearly persist between their various groups on how to confront the president.

Speaking to Reuters before the rally, Milinkevich said the march showed Lukashenko was afraid of the opposition even on the issue of moving towards Europe.

"For the first time, we are coming out in favour of something: Europe, the path to Europe," he said. "And they are afraid of even this though they say they want to cooperate more closely with Europe."

The president has been in power since 1994 and is generally popular, especially outside the capital, in the country of 10 million wedged between Russia and three EU states. (Additional reporting by Andrei Makhovsky)

Source:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL142712620071014

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