Thousands poured into a yard on the outskirts of Minsk on Thursday evening to lay flowers in the memory of Roman Bondarenko who was attacked by plainclothes police there the night before
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Thousands of people across Belarus stopped to observe a silence at noon yesterday/FRI in the memory of a 31-year-old anti-government protester who died the night before after he was beaten by plainclothes police officers.
Roman Bondarenko’s death marks another dark chapter in the ongoing standoff between swathes of Belarusian society and Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s leader of 26 years whose dubious landslide election set off anti-government protests in August.
Mr Bondarenko died of a severe brain injury in hospital on Thursday evening where he was taken from a police station the night before.
Mr Bondarenko, a painter who served in special forces and mostly recently worked as the manager in a convenience store, was involved in grass-roots activism in his neighbourhood in northern Minsk where a local yard became a popular protest venue known as "Plaza of Change".
Plaza of Change and other neighbourhoods that display anti-Lukashenko white-red-and-white national flags have become targets for riot police and plainclothes officers, who tear down the flags and other protest symbols.
People gathered to honor the 31-year-old man
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Mr Bondarenko was attacked by a plainclothes police officer on Thursday night after he went to chase agents away from the playground.
Several videos released by local residents show a masked man in a hoodie tackling Mr Bondarenko, throwing him to the ground and kicking him.
He was taken away in an unmarked van with tinted windows that police often use to transport detainees.
Local news outlet Tut.by quoted a doctor saying that Mr Bondarenko had visible bruises and scratches all over his body when he was admitted in the hospital. He could barely move and fell into a coma shortly afterwards.
Mr Lukashenko on Friday evening called for a “transparent and impartial investigation," adding, "it is bad when a person passes away."
Belarusian investigators in a statement on Friday sought to portray Mr Bondarenko’s death as the result of a drunken brawl, alleging that alcohol was found in his blood upon arrival in hospital.
Hospital staff refuted the allegations, telling Tut.by that tests showed “zero” alcohol in his blood.
Belarus’ main investigative body described the incident as “a fight between aggressive local residents who were hanging ribbons and individuals who were taking them off.” It did not indicate that the attackers were security officers.
Mourners formed human chains all over Minsk in the memory of the killed protester
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Thousands of people poured into Plaza of Change on Thursday night to light candles and leave flowers at the place where he was beaten up.
37-year-old Yauhen who lives nearby and refused to give his last name fearing repercussions said that the neighbourhood and the entire city were shocked by Mr Bondarenko’s death.
“Our yards are no longer safe,” he told the Telegraph, adding that riot police have visited Plaza of Change before. “Their only purpose is to scare people.”
Belarusians across the country stopped to observe a silence at noon on Friday in Mr Bondarenko’s memory.
Players of a Minsk football team stood in the middle of a football field with their heads bowed. Uniformed workers in orange hats stood by the factory gate of a major fertliser plant in western Belarus in solidarity while in Minsk, students staged silent vigils at their campuses.
Olga Kucherenko, Mr Bondarenko’s cousin, in an interview with Radio Free Europe described Mr Bondarenko as “a very calm person who would never get involved in any conflicts” and said she hoped for justice for the 31-year-old man.
The European Union said on Friday that it was ready to impose additional sanctions on the Lukashenko regime after Mr Bondarenko’s death. It described his death as “an outrageous and shameful result of the actions by the Belarusian authorities.”
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