They wanted democracy. Instead they say they were beaten and raped by police.
'He cut my underwear. Then he did what he did'
They wanted democracy. Instead they say they were beaten and raped by police.
By Nick Paton Walsh, Sebastian Shukla, Christian Streib and Denis Lapin, CNN
Updated 6:41 AM ET, Mon March 22, 2021
... Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians attended mass protests across the country last year following Lukashenko's declaration of victory in the August vote. The US and EU declared the vote fraudulent and imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials over the fraud and the brutal crackdown that followed.
... CNN has spoken to several other Belarusians who have fled the repression of Lukashenko's regime, illegally across the border into Ukraine, as part of a two-month investigation into the crackdown inside the country. In dozens of interviews, protesters and opposition activists have spoken of torture -- from systematic beatings, to rape with a police baton.
Defectors from the police force have also supplied CNN with videos from the police's own archives -- bodycam, dashcam and surveillance footage -- that display the extraordinary ferocity of riot police against protesters who are unarmed and peaceful, many of them teenagers...there are concerns among activists the crackdown will intensify again ahead of a nationwide call to the streets on March 25.
...Russian President Vladimir Putin swiftly moved to support Lukashenko in August with a $1.5 billion loan and other unspecified assistance. The Belarusian protests, however, have continued. Analysts say the Kremlin is concerned both by a persistent protest movement for democracy on its doorstep, and the impact of unprecedented levels of police violence on how a younger generation of Belarusians view Moscow.
Much more here
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/22/europe/belarus-abuse-claims-intl-cmd/index.html
Read this and think of the Putin fans in our Congress. They would bring this to our shores.
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be okie dokie with it. 
