Clashes with the police occurred today in the Belarusian city of Grodno, where signatures were being collected for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is going to become a presidential candidate.
Svetlana submitted an application to the CEC after her husband, the famous pro-Western blogger Sergei, failed to do so. He was serving an administrative sentence for participating in unauthorized rallies against the integration of Russia and Belarus.
Now Tikhanovsky has been released, and he is taking an active part in legal pickets to collect signatures. Many people come to meet him. Many people bring slippers because the blogger launched the slogan “Stop the cockroach,” hinting at President Lukashenko and his mustache.
In Grodno, an elderly woman, who is not his supporter, began to approach Tikhanovsky with persistent questions. The blogger did not distance himself from everything. The woman stated that he was pushing her. The police intervened. This outraged Tikhanovsky's supporters. A scuffle occurred, as a result of which one of the law enforcement officers ended up lying on the ground.
Tikhanovsky was detained. He resisted. The crowd chanted “Shame” and then tried to block the police cars.
Then they went to the police station. However, the organizers of the collection of signatures through social networks asked them to disperse before 22.00 so that Tikhanovskaya would not be removed from the elections.
It is noteworthy that a few hours before, at a speech at the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ), Alexander Lukashenko predicted such a situation.
“The men raised their heads, Somewhere someone is walking and shouting. Risky people. If I were them, I would be more careful with the police. These are corporate people. If he finds an opportunity, he will answer. It’s no longer easy for me to restrain them, because they run into provocation. Provocation is the best advertising. This is how they understand it,” Lukashenko said.