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Belarus protests as seen through artists' eyes

Belarusians have been protesting for over a month to demand the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko following national elections that his opponents and international governments widely consider fraudulent. Artists in Belarus and across the globe created dozens of illustrations inspired by the protests.

What is happening in Belarus? We explain the historic pro-democracy protests

Protests began Aug. 9 when Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, emerged as the winner of a presidential election with about 80% of the votes, according to official exit polls. The rallies are unprecedented in scale and have been largely peaceful. The protesters dress in white and red – the colors of the opposition flag – and bring flowers and balloons. Protests have been held in more than 30 cities. A historic rally in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, drew more than 200,000 people. Thousands of people continue to demonstrate across the country, from big cities to small villages.

Stop the violence. Belarus, 2020.
Stop the violence. Belarus, 2020.

The government has cracked down on dissent since protests swept the country. Since the rallies began, around 6,700 people have been arrested. Two people have died in police custody.

TOPSHOT - Law enforcement officers detain participants of a rally to support detained opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova in Minsk on September 8, 2020. - Authorities in Belarus tried to forcibly expel leading opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova from the country but she tore up her passport in defiance and jumped out a car window to stay, her allies said on September 8, 2020. Kolesnikova, one of the last of the figures leading mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko who is still in the country, was detained at the border early on Tuesday after going missing in Monday. (Photo by - / TUT.BY / AFP) (Photo by -/TUT.BY/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 0 ORIG FILE ID: AFP_1X3031.jpg

Riot police have been seen pummeling unarmed protesters with their boots and batons Plain-clothed law enforcement officers have reportedly abducted protesters, forcing them into vans.

Belarusian artist @kastus.suprac is a member of a national art resistance movement
Belarusian artist @kastus.suprac is a member of a national art resistance movement

Both riot police and military forces have used tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and stun grenades. Some have shot live rounds at unarmed protesters. Police detained hundreds of women participating in peaceful marches over the weekend.

Protesters released from detention appear to have been subjected to “widespread torture,” according to Amnesty International. The organization says detained protesters were forced to kneel with their hands behind their backs for hours in overcrowded cells. Men and women were reportedly stripped naked, beaten and raped with truncheons.

The famous trio - Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo

They line up peacefully, rally in white robes and flowers and help and support each other - this is how Belarusians protest
They line up peacefully, rally in white robes and flowers and help and support each other - this is how Belarusians protest

Women have been playing a crucial role in the movement against Lukashenko. Thousands of women dressed in in white and carrying flowers have been rallying against the outcome of the election and the ensuing violence. They have been gathering for women's marches and forming human chains that stretch for miles. Three women became the leaders of the opposition movement.

Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya was Lukashenko's main rival in last month's election. She emerged as a rallying figure for the opposition after election officials refused to add male candidates seen as Lukashenko’s strongest potential challengers to ballots.

One, Viktor Babariko, the head of a major Russian-controlled bank, was jailed in May on money-laundering and tax-evasion charges that he believes to be politically driven. Another, Valery Tsepkalo, fled to Russia last month, fearing arrest and losing custody of his children.

Tsikhanouskaya has formed a united campaign with Tsepkalo’s wife Veronika Tsepkalo who stayed in Belarus, and Maria Kolesnikova, Babariko’s campaign manager. A joint photo of the three became a symbol for protesters.

Veronika Tsepkalo, the wife of opposition figure Valery Tsepkalo, who was barred from running for presidency, presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Maria Kolesnikova, Viktor Babaryko's campaign chief, pose during a press conference in Minsk on July 17, 2020. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images) ORIG FILE ID: AFP_1VC2A8

Tsikhanouskaya was forced to go into exile in neighboring Lithuania shortly after the vote. She was allegedly left alone for three hours with security officials after going to the Central Election Commission to request a recount of votes from the presidential election. On Monday, she met with EU foreign ministers at the EU headquarters in Brussels and urged them to sanction those involved in the brutal suppression of protests in the country.

Tsepkalo fled to Russia for safety reasons before the election took place. She is now in Ukraine.

Maria Kolesnikova says she was forced into a van by masked men in the center of Minsk. In a statement delivered by her lawyer, she describes being told that if she did not leave willingly she could be removed "alive or in bits".

Motherland calls
Motherland calls

Koleshikova was driven to the Ukrainian border with two opposition activists to be forcibly deported. She prevented officials from expelling her by tearing up her passport and throwing it out of a car window, according to those who traveled with her. Kolesnikova is currently in custody. She has been charged with calling for actions that threaten the national security of Belarus.

Svetlana Alexievich, a Nobel Prize-winning writer and journalist, is the last leading member of the opposition Coordination Council still in Belarus who has not been detained. She said masked men attempted to break into her apartment. A group of European diplomats rushed to protect the 72-year-old woman.

The inspiration for this illustration is 73-year-old Nina Baginskaya
The inspiration for this illustration is 73-year-old Nina Baginskaya

Nina Baginskaya gained wide popularity after a video of her encounter with Belarusian riot police at a protests went viral. In the videos, a 5-foot-1, 73-year-old woman with a white-red-white flag in her hands walks right past riot policemen blocking her way saying, "I'm walking".

Baginskaya was well-known in Minsk well before the video, and has been attending opposition rallies since 1988. She has been ordered to pay more than $16,000 in fines for participation in rallies over the years, according to local media. The state withholds money for fines from her pension, halving it to around $75 a month. Her two country houses were confiscated and put up for sale. In 2016, bailiffs even seized a microwave oven and washing machine from Baginskaya. But five days later, activists and supporters on the internet raised money to buy her new household appliances. Baginskaya was detained on September 19 and later released.

Opposition activist Nina Baginskaya, 73, center, struggles with police during a Belarusian opposition supporters rally at Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. Police in Belarus have dispersed protesters who gathered on the capital's central square, detaining dozens. The crackdown in Independence Square on Wednesday comes on the 18th straight day of protests pushing for the resignation of Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) ORG XMIT: PEA403

The last European dictator

Belarusians are cats, not rats
Belarusians are cats, not rats

Lukashenko has repeatedly denigrated the protesters and the opposition movement. He called the demonstrators "sheep" controlled by "puppeteers" from other countries and said that it is mostly "people with a criminal past and unemployed" taking part in the protests.

This grab taken from a video released by Belarus state agency "Belta" shows President Alexander Lukashenko holding an automatic rifle and wearing body armour as he arrives, on August 23, 2020, at his residence in Minsk, not far from where opposition protests are taking place. - Tens of thousands of demonstrators massed in central Minsk on Sunday to demand the resignation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who flew over the scene of the banned protest in a helicopter and called the marchers "rats". (Photo by - / BELTA / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / BELTA " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by -/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images) ORIG FILE ID: AFP_1WP433

Lukashenko also said that many of the Belarusians detained during the protests were stoned and drunk. Flying by helicopter to his Minsk residence, he inspected a location of a protest rally with thousands of people. Lukashenko said that its participants "fled like rats."

"You are rat yourself" has become another popular slogan of the uprising.

After Lukashenko met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Putin agreed to provide an emergency loan of $1.5 billion to Lukashenko's administration. Belarus' situation is reminiscent of Ukraine's in 2013. Then, Russia offered to lend $15 billion to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych during a series of pro-European Union demonstrations around the country.

Pray for Belarus
Pray for Belarus

While Russia and China have voiced support for Lukashenko, the United States is considering enacting sanctions on Belarus for regime's violent response to protests. The EU parliament has passed a non-binding resolution to impose sanctions on Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko over the disputed re-election and violence against protesters. However, European Union foreign ministers failed to impose sanctions on Monday.

“Once the term of office for the incumbent authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko expires on 5 November, parliament will no longer recognize him as the president of the country,” the parliament said in a statement.

Lukashenko has reportedly announced that Belarus is closing the western border with Lithuania and Poland. Security at the border with Ukraine will be strengthened. Lukashenko was sworn in for a sixth term on Wednesday in an unannounced ceremony. Streets were repotedly sealed off as his motorcade raced through the city.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Belarus protests as seen through the artists' eyes