Nine years since brutal dispersal of post-election protesters by pro-Lukashenka police
On 19 December 2010, Belarusian authorities put down the mass protests against stealing of the presidential election with a heavy hand.
At about 20 pm, when the preliminary election results were made public, the outraged Belarusians gathered in Kastrychnitskaya Square in Minsk. After opposition presidential candidates made their speeches near the Palace of Trade Unions, participants began to move towards Independence Square. At a certain point, the number of the marching people reached 30,000; since then, there has never been such a turnout at protest rallies in Belarus.
However, a group of provocateurs started to break doors at the entrance to Government House in Independence Square. Some participants joined them, but in general, the rally remained peaceful. Despite this, at about 23:00 the riot police quickly and violently broke up the demonstration; hundreds, even bystanders, were severely beaten, nearly 700 persons were detained and put behind bars. Seven presidential candidates were detained, some of them were put in Amerikanka, the notorious KGB prison in Minsk.
About 50 people were defendants in the so-called mass riots trial, which turned out to be the most politically-charged case in the history of present-day Belarus.
The Belsat documentary Enough… To Freedom! directed by Andrey Kutsila and Vyachaslau Rakitski presents the dramatic events of December, 2010 as viewed by the peaceful protest participants who have come through jail trials.
In turn, Amerikanka. All Included features journalist and writer Alyaksandr Fyaduta’s being in the internal prison of the Belarusian KGB. After the 2010 presidential elections the author spent 110 days there and described his prison experience in a book.
