[71][72] The largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus, the demonstrations began in the lead-up to and during the 2020 presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought his sixth term in office.

A statement by the United Nations Human Rights Office on 1 September cited more than 450 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, as well as reports of sexual abuse and rape.

Alexander Lukashenko has been the head of state of Belarus since 1994, and did not have a serious challenger in the previous five elections, resulting in being referred to as "Europe's last dictator" by media outlets.

[87] Tikhanovsky traveled across Belarus and streamed interviews with random people on his YouTube channel Country for life (Russian: Страна для жизни, romanized: Strana dlya zhizni).

[89] During an interview, Lukashenko claimed that the opposition protests were a part of a plot[90] orchestrated by foreigners, whom he suggested might be Americans, NATO members, Russians, or even Ukrainians.

[91] According to CNN, Babaryka stated that the charges of bribery and corruption were falsified and the arrest was politically motivated to stop him from winning the presidential election.

[94] Lukashenko accused Russia of lying about the arrested "mercenaries", saying "So far there is no open warfare, no shooting, the trigger has not yet been pulled, but an attempt to organize a massacre in the center of Minsk is already obvious.

[116] This caused an immediate reaction by supporters of Tsikhanouskaya to head to the streets in all major cities in Belarus, such as Brest, Minsk, Viciebsk, Hrodna, Mazyr, Pinsk, Homel, and Babruisk.

[118] At night, after breaking up big crowds, police officers chased smaller groups of protesters through downtown Minsk for several hours.

[6][123] Applications for membership of the transitional council were open to any Belarusian citizen who recognised the election as having been falsified, and who was in a position of social trust such as a doctor, a teacher, a business leader, an author, or a sportsperson.

"[132] Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the fact that the leadership of the Coordination Council did not want to reduce their ties with Russia and instead hoped to continue with good bilateral relationships between the two countries.

[134] In late October 2020, the Coordination Council created a shadow government, called National Anti-Crisis Management (NAM), for organising the detailed administrative tasks for a peaceful transfer of power to a fairly and freely elected president.

[161][162][163] In a further comment by the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was reported that results of the preliminary investigation supported the version presented by the Akrestsina staff.

[166] According to numerous publications, the suppression of the 2020 Belarusian protests was accompanied by extreme police violence, and systematic violation of human rights throughout stages of the detention process.

According to the statement, HRF identified fifteen persons from the Belarusian state apparatus who were responsible for the arbitrary detention, beating, and torture of thousands of peaceful protesters.

[132] In a 21 August statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, it was noted that, despite the majority of the detainees being released, serious concerns remained about the eight missing protesters and the sixty accused of serious criminal acts.

[180] On 1 September, in a statement by the UN human rights experts, more than 450 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of detainees were mentioned, including sexual abuse and rape with rubber batons of men, women, and children.

Around 20,000 people were detained in August and September, while hundreds have been reportedly beaten, intimidated, tortured, or ill-treated in custody, according to the sources described by Anais Marin.

Belarus has witnessed large-scale demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election to a sixth term in the August 9 voting, which the opposition argues was rigged.

On 23 July, Lukashenko stated during a meeting with the leaders of the country's economic bloc, that his main concern was that the BBC and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty had encouraged riots while streaming protests.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists stated that the real cause was not technical troubles, but an attempt to block information about the protests and violations of human rights.

[232] On 1 June, Belarusian prisoner Stepan Latypov, detained in a crackdown on protests, attempted to cut his own throat with a pen during a court hearing after telling his family that he had been held in a torture cell for 51 days and being informed by police that his relatives and neighbors would be prosecuted under criminal law if he did not confess.

[233] The Christian Vision working group of the Coordination Council reported that during the election campaign and during the protests in 2020, a number of employees of religious organisations were dismissed or forced to resign because of their political beliefs.

The Investigative Committee submitted the content of Roman Catholic priest Viachaslau Barok's video blog for examination on suspicion of extremism.

[281] Georgy Saralidze, advisor to the director of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company on program policy, noted in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza that western countries had been striving to isolate Belarus away from Russia for several years.

[290] On 17 April 2021, the Russian FSB issued a statement that it had prevented an attempt at a coup d'état in Belarus, said to have been planned with the support of the United States, in collaboration with the Belarusian KGB.

[292][293] In May 2021, a hoax by a pair of Russian pranksters convinced officers of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), including President Carl Gershman, that they were speaking remotely to Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and an aide.

[296] Mikita Mikado, the CEO of PandaDoc, which has Belarusian roots, offered to support authorities (police officers, army and security forces) that want to retire, but cannot for financial reasons.

"[299] The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on 14 August an €11 million fund to help protesters get visas and settle in Poland.

[13] Other symbols used by opposition supporters include the former coat of arms of Belarus, known as the Pahonia (the historical coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania),[303] and the song Vajacki marš,[304] which was the national anthem of the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic, as well as the song Pahonia (lyrics based on the poem by Maksim Bahdanovich, music by Mikola Kulikovich).