Belarus: Aleksandr Lukashenko’s early announcement of “victory” brings crowds to the streets. Nasha Niva journalist Natalia Lubnevskaya was injured after being hit with a projectile.

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August 11, 2020, Minsk, Belarus -- Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for 26 years, declared an early victory in the presidential elections held yesterday in Belarus.

The Election Commission, accused of acting in favor of Lukashenko, reported that the 65-year-old current president received 80.23 percent of the votes.

After the first results were announced, thousands of protesters took to the streets in many cities across the country, especially in the capital Minsk, on the grounds that the election was rigged.

Taking strict security measures in many regions, the police intervened in the demonstrations and clashed with protestors all night long, trying to disperse them with grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets. 

Among several hundred people who gathered in the area of ​​the Yubileynaya hotel on Pobediteley Avenue, chanting "Long live Belarus!" 30 were detained, some journalists who followed the events were also reportedly detained, but their identities have not been disclosed yet.

In addition, about a hundred people in military uniform with machine guns were seen on Kalvariyskaya street near the Korona shopping center. Here Natalia Lubnevskaya, a journalist of the Nasha Niva newspaper, was wounded in the leg and rushed to the emergency room. According to Natalia, she was hit by a rubber bullet. It is worth noting that the journalists were standing in a group, they were wearing vests with the inscription ‘Press’ and all of them had journalist IDs.

Since 1995, Independent observers have not considered Belarus elections to be fair and unrigged. While the Belarus citizens are calling for a re-election, opposition leader Svetlana 

Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania over concerns for her safety.

According to the BBC's report, in May, Viktoria Tsepkalo, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Maria Kolesnikova decided to ally against Lukashenko, who ruled Belarus for 25 years.

With the slogan "We are equal and we can win," women candidates who appear on the political scene instead of their opposition spouses, who have been banned from participating in the elections, will rival Lukashenko, who says "poor things" for themselves and says "the Constitution of Belarus is not made for a woman."

The Coalition For Women In Journalism finds the use of excessive violence and the sexist language despicable. We urge authorities to investigate the security forces who severely injured Natalia Lubnevskaya and listen to the demands of the public.