Thousands of demonstrators in Belarus gathered Saturday at the spot in the capital where a protester died in clashes with police, calling for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to resign after 26 years in power.
It was the seventh consecutive day of large protests against the results of the Aug. 9 presidential election in which election officials say Lukashenko won a sixth term in office.
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Thousands of demonstrators in Belarus gathered Saturday at the spot in the capital where a protester died in clashes with police, calling for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to resign after 26 years in power.
Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the protests in a call Saturday, the first publicly known direct contact between the two leaders since the election.
Russia and Belarus reached an agreement in 1997 about closer ties between the neighboring ex-Soviet countries in a union stopping short of a full merger, although that has collided with recent disputes between the countries and Luksashenko's suspicions that Putin's government wants to absorb Belarus.
About 5,000 demonstrators gathered Saturday in the area where Taraikovsky died. There were no immediate reports of detentions.
Relatives gather around the coffin of Alexander Taraikovsky, who died amid the clashes protesting the election results, during his funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP PhotoSergei Grits)
People hold an old Belarusian National flag and gather at the place where Alexander Taraikovsky died amid the clashes protesting the election results, during his civil funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. During the four nights that followed, black-clad riot police detained thousands of largely peaceful demonstrators in Minsk and other cities after firing tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. (AP PhotoSergei Grits)
Despite harsh police action against the protesters, including the detention of some 7,000 people, the demonstrations have swelled into the largest and most sustained protest wave since Lukashenko took power in 1994.
People wave flowers at the farewell hall during the funeral of Alexander Taraikovsky who died amid clashes protesting the election results, in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP PhotoSergei Grits)
Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the protests in a call Saturday, the first publicly known direct contact between the two leaders since the election.
A Kremlin statement said Putin and Lukashenko both expressed hope for a quick resolution of the tensions.
“It is important that these problems are not used by destructive forces aimed at causing injury to the cooperation of the two countries in the framework of the union state,” the Kremlin said.
People wave flowers at the farewell hall during the funeral of Alexander Taraikovsky who died amid clashes protesting the election results, in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP PhotoSergei Grits)
Russia and Belarus reached an agreement in 1997 about closer ties between the neighboring ex-Soviet countries in a union stopping short of a full merger, although that has collided with recent disputes between the countries and Luksashenko's suspicions that Putin's government wants to absorb Belarus.
A funeral was held Saturday for Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester who died Monday in the capital of Minsk under disputed circumstances. Belarusian police said he died when an explosive device he intended to throw at police blew up in his hand.
But his partner, Elena German, told The Associated Press that when she saw his body in a morgue on Friday, his hands showed no damage and he had a perforation in his chest that she believes is a bullet wound.
People with old Belarusian National flags lay flowers as they gather at the place where Alexander Taraikovsky died amid the clashes protesting the election results, during his civil funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP PhotoDmitri Lovetsky)
About 5,000 demonstrators gathered Saturday in the area where Taraikovsky died. There were no immediate reports of detentions.
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Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.
People gather at the farewell hall during the funeral of Alexander Taraikovsky who died amid clashes protesting the election results, in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP PhotoSergei Grits)
Relatives gather around the coffin of Alexander Taraikovsky, who died amid the clashes protesting the election results, during his funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP PhotoSergei Grits)
People hold an old Belarusian National flag and gather at the place where Alexander Taraikovsky died amid the clashes protesting the election results, during his civil funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. During the four nights that followed, black-clad riot police detained thousands of largely peaceful demonstrators in Minsk and other cities after firing tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. (AP PhotoSergei Grits)