The former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya during the election company was protected by Belarusian security forces. The deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic and the Former Head of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (Guba) Nikolai Karpenkov was announced in an interview with RT.
According to him, law enforcement officers prepared in advance for possible provocations during rallies and meetings with voters from “terrorists and extremists”. Politics were constantly accompanied from 40 to 80 people so that no one could “compromise the current power.”
“Snipers have worked from the special purpose division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, promptly provided those people with whom nothing had to happen,” said Carpenkov.
In Belarus, mass protests continued with the demanding of Lukashenko’s resignation after the presidential elections in August 2020. The opposition considered their results falsified, the authorities responded with the use of force. Tens of thousands of people were detained, many told about torture and beating in insulators. At least four people died, hundreds received prison terms.
Most protest leaders, including Tihananovskaya, fled abroad, the remaining were arrested and accused of trying to the state coup. Lukashenko found anti-government speeches by interference from Western countries. The European Union, USA and the United Kingdom responded with sanctions.