Strange days – hope for best but collusion with Putin may sell out countries reformers.

State-television presenters in Belarus have gone on strike or quit their jobs, fed up with putting a positive spin on the country’s turmoil.
Belarus’ president Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, has led the country since 1994. He won a landslide victory in the August 9 election, triggering mass protests.
The vote was denounced by EU officials. The opposition says that Lukashenko’s main challenger, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, was the rightful winner and wants new elections.
Lukashenko has earlier said that Putin promised to send Russian military assistance if necessary to quell the ongoing unrest.
A director for a state television channel on Wednesday said that she and other striking workers were not allowed to continue doing their jobs, and that Russian specialists were brought in to take over.
A journalist has said that, as she and her colleagues went to the office building in the morning, an officer standing guard told them that they were on a “blacklist”, which she believes included the names of people who had complained about the election results.
The Belarus 3 director said that Russian crews had been flown in to take over for Belarussian journalists who have gone on strike or quit.
Earlier, Lukashenko gave distinguished service medals to riot police accused of torture and forced disappearances during the protests.






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