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Belarus protesters answer Internet call, defy Lukashenko

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:47 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

* Up to 1,000 people answer Facebook call for protest

* Lukashenko has warned he will strike protesters hard

* Economic crisis has caused devaluation, high inflation

By Andrei Makhovsky

MINSK, June 15 (Reuters) - Up to 1,000 people turned out in the Belarussian capital, Minsk, on Wednesday in a rare protest at economic hardship, defying a warning by President Alexander Lukashenko that he would "strike hard" against them.

Police sealed off Minsk's Oktyabrskaya Square close to Lukashenko's main administration building, but several hundred people massed in a largely silent protest in nearby streets all the same.

The protesters -- replying to a protest call sharply critical of Lukashenko which was carried on social networking sites -- carried no slogans, and they were largely silent apart from some rhythmic clapping of hands.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet republic for 16 years and whose authoritarian style has led to sanctions by Western governments, declared on Tuesday he would "strike hard" to suppress any fresh protests against his policies.

Police made no move to intervene against the protesters.

Signs of unrest have been growing in the tightly-policed state with the onset of a severe economic crisis that has led to a 36 percent devaluation of the rouble and soaring inflation.

The opposition is in disarray after a police crackdown and mass arrests following a protest rally on December 19 against Lukashenko's re-election for a fourth straight term.

Several key opposition figures who ran against him in the vote, which Western monitoring bodies also denounced as suspect, have since been jailed.

As the economic crisis has worsened, protest groups have grown bolder and calls are multiplying on social networking sites for public protests.

One opposition video placed on the Internet under the slogan "Conquer your fear: become a hero" urged Lukashenko opponents to demonstrate in Minsk on Wednesday night and in coming weeks.

Motorists last week rallied in the centre of Minsk in protest at a sharp rise in the price of gasoline.

And at the weekend scores of people rallied on the border with Poland, blocking a crossing point, before being dispersed forcibly by police. They were protesting against restrictions on the quantity of gasoline and other goods they could take out.

'LINK IN A CHAIN'

Vladimir Neklyayev, one of the election challengers to Lukashenko who was given a suspended sentence for his part in the December 19 rally, turned out at the rally on Wednesday.

"This (the protest) is the link in a chain of social protests which will only grow bigger as the economic situation worsens. It is clear that Lukashenko has chosen the road of restrictions and repression. It's a road to nowhere," Neklyayev told reporters.

"I am not an opposition supporter. I am simply against these politics, this government and this president. I want something new," said Alexei, a 22-year-old student.

Though Lukashenko's re-election for a fourth term in power last December sparked huge street protests, public dissent is relatively rare in Belarus.

The Minsk government is looking for bail-out loans from big neighbour Russia and from the International Monetary Fund to help it through a crisis which many analysts attribute to public over-spending ahead of the December election.

Struggling to plug a yawning balance-of-payments deficit, the government devalued the national currency, the rouble, by 36 percent in May. It has also imposed a freeze on the price of core foodstuffs, but people are still buying what staples they can to hoard.

Minsk can expect to receive $1.2 billion in loans from a Russia-led bailout fund this year but it also needs IMF support of between $3 billion and $8 billion.

The IMF, ending a two-week mission to Minsk on Monday, gave only lukewarm support for government anti-crisis policies and urged it to let the rouble float freely, freeze wages and raise interest rates to hold more money within the banking system.

Delivery of IMF aid is complicated by Lukashenko's poor image in the West since the police crackdown during his December re-election. (Writing by Richard Balmforth)