More Than 50 People Arrested in Latest Belarus Protests

The human rights organisation, Wedna, and the Interior Ministry on Wednesday confirmed that, more than 50 people were arrested in the latest anti-government protests in Belarus.
It was the largest daily number of arrests on Wednesday, as the number of people joining unauthorised protests continued to rise.
A disputed presidential election that took place in August granted long-time President, Alexander Lukashenko, another term in office.
Lukashenko promised to crack down on opponents as daily demonstrations swelled into mass protests during the weekend in Minsk.
The latest round of protests include rallies in the cities of Grodno and Gomel.
Meanwhile, the EU had refused to recognise the results, saying the elections were neither free nor fair.
Earlier, the Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, had condemned Minsk for cracking down on the country’s nascent coordinating council, established by the opposition to support a transition of power.
Maas said EU Foreign Ministers were to discuss a response to the situation during a conference in Berlin scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
“Severe human rights violations and violations of basic democratic principles will not go unanswered. It is absolutely unacceptable that members of the coordinating council had been imprisoned, interrogated and intimidated. The coordinating council repeatedly made its goal clear to work on a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis on the basis of the current constitution and in taking into account the close relations between Belarus and Russia. The council also planned to work on close relations between civil society organisations”.
Also, the Lithuanian Government said it planned to expand its sanctions against its neighbour in the wake of the elections.