Whether or not fear keeps most protesters off the streets this weekend, and prevents factory workers from walking off the job, could prove decisive for Mr. Lukashenko’s fate. Standing in front of a police car announcing that protesters in the central square Thursday evening must disperse, Mr. Demenko was fuming. He said that many of his friends had gone to work in neighboring Poland, earning more money there and enjoying a freer life. “I am paying taxes, I have rights — why can I not come out to express my opinion?” asked Mr. Demenko, 35, adding that after a few days without arrests, some of his most active colleagues had been detained the previous night. “Why is it that they have the law applied to us regular folks, but they violate it themselves all the time?”

Source: New York Times August 21, 2020 21:22 UTC