Opposition activists in Belarus were preparing for fresh protests on Thursday to breathe life into a movement against President Alexander Lukashenko that fizzled out in the face of a severe crackdown.
The authorities were moving military vehicles into the centre of the capital Minsk in preparation, according to videos circulating on social media and published by local media.
Rallies erupted in the ex-Soviet country last August after President Lukashenko claimed a sixth term in a vote the opposition and Western diplomats said was rigged. But a sustained police crackdown saw weekly mass demonstrations in city centres peter out by the end of the year, with thousands of protesters detained and several killed.
The opposition has since changed tactics, calling for supporters to gather in small groups in every district.
The Nexta Telegram channel, which has mobilised and coordinated demonstrations, urged protesters to march through courtyards and organise flash mobs on Thursday. It called on drivers across the country to sound their horns at 6:30 p.m. (1530 GMT) and for a nationwide firework salute to end the day at 9:00 p.m. “We want to declare March 25 the day when the cities are ours!” Nexta wrote.
The resumption of the protests coincides with Freedom Day in Belarus, which the Opposition marks each year on the anniversary of the country’s declaration of independence in 1918.
Officials have said the planned protests are illegal and have moved to crack down on dissent this week, accusing a group representing Polish people in Belarus of stirring up racial hatred and the “rehabilitation of Nazism”. Police detained the head of the Union of Poles in Belarus, Anzhelika Boris, for 15 days on Wednesday and searched the group's offices, the homes of its activists and at least one Polish school.
