Belarus: Lukashenko rejects calls for new elections, claims NATO deployed to border
The embattled Belarusian president says NATO has sent tanks and planes to its western border. Alexander Lukashenko urged supporters to defend the country as tens of thousands of protesters again demanded he steps down.

LUKASHENKO ISSUES ANOTHER FALSE FLAG, HE DID THIS BEFORE THE ELECTIONS WITH CLAIMS THAT RUSSIA(!!) HAD SENT MERCENARIES (PM WAGNER)  INTO BELARUS TO PLOT A COUP.

HE HIS GOVT AND PRESS CONTINUE TO CALL PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATORS RIOTERS.

HE IS MAKING EXCUSES FOR MARTIAL LAW

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday accused NATO of deploying tanks and planes to Belarus' western border, a claim the military alliance rejected.Speaking at a rally of his supporters in central Minsk, the 65-year-old leader dismissed opposition calls for a new election and urged Belarusians to defend their country.

"I called you here not to defend me, but for the first time in a quarter-century, to defend your country and its independence," he said to the 3,000 strong crowd, just as tens of thousands of protesters once again hit the streets in several cities demanding his ouster.


Lukashenko appeals to his supporters to defend Belarus
NATO denies build-up

NATO said it was closely monitoring events in Belarus, but denied a military buildup was underway in eastern Europe.

"NATO's multinational presence in the eastern part of the Alliance is not a threat to any country. It is strictly defensive, proportionate, and designed to prevent conflict and preserve peace," a NATO spokeswoman said in a statement.

Read more: Belarus: Lukashenko claims Russia is ready to help 'ensure security'

Belarus has been rocked by demonstrations since last Sunday when Lukashenko claimed victory in a presidential election his opponents say was rigged. Two people have died in the protests and thousands have been arrested.

Read more: DW's Belarus correspondent released after 10-day arrest

Unrest 'caused by foreign interference'

Lukashenko, who has led the former Soviet state for 26 years, denies election fraud. He says foreign interference is to blame for the unrest.

"If we kowtow to them, we will go into a tailspin," he told his supporters. "We will perish as a state, as a people, as a nation."

"The motherland is in danger!" one speaker told the crowd, as people chanted "We are united," and waved the national flag.

"I'm for Lukashenko," Alla Georgievna, 68, told Reuters news agency. "I don't understand why everyone has risen up against him. We get our pensions and salaries on time thanks to him."


Anti-government protesters marched down Minsk's Independence Avenue following an opposition call for the biggest rally yet

Opposition marches draw huge crowdsMeanwhile, tens of thousands of opposition supporters were holding a nationwide "March for Freedom" to renew pressure on Lukashenko to step down.

Columns of protesters raised victory signs and held flowers and balloons. Many wore white, the color that has come to symbolize the opposition movement.

Demonstrators held placards with slogans such as "We are against violence" and "Lukashenko must answer for the torture and dead."

At a war memorial where the march was to culminate, an AFP journalist estimated that up to 100,000 people had gathered.

DW's Moscow correspondent Emily Sherwin tweeted that there are signs that the state TV channel could flout government control after several high-profile staff resigned.

Russia offers security assistance

Earlier on Sunday, Russia said it had offered Belarus military assistance if necessary. Moscow also said external pressure was being applied to the country, but did not say where from.

Lukashenko told state TV he would move an air assault brigade to Belarus' western border. According to the RIA news agency, the Belarusian army also plans to hold weeklong drills to strengthen the country's borders with Poland and Lithuania starting on Monday.
EU sanctions to target 'specific' officials

The European Union says the presidential vote was neither free nor fair, and is preparing to impose sanctions over the post-election crackdown.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the sanctions are designed to target specific individuals.

"This is not about economic sanctions, which would primarily affect the Belarusian population, but we as the EU want to punish specific individuals proven to have been involved in rigging the election and violence against demonstrators," Maas said.

nm/mm (Reuters, AFP)

DW's Belarus correspondent released after 10-day arrest

Alexander Burakov has been released after spending 10 days in detention. He told DW his arrest was linked to the authorities' efforts to hinder independent journalists from covering the presidential election.


Freelance journalist Alexander Burakov, who reports for DW's Russian service, was released from detention late Saturday evening after being held for 10 days. Speaking to DW shortly after his release, Burakov said he was doing fine. He said he had no idea about what was going on in the country in the aftermath of last Sunday's presidential election, since he had no access to any information in prison.

"The radio in my cell was switched off, so I was in a total information vacuum. I just got to know that people had died during the protests. I am shocked," he said.

Read more: DW correspondent arrested in Belarus

Burakov said he didn't have any complaints about how the police officers had treated him in the detention. However, he called his arrest "a farce," saying it was part of the authorities' effort to prevent independent journalists from reporting about the presidential election, which took place on August 9.

Mass protests broke out in major cities across Belarus last week after longtime President Alexander Lukashenko secured a sixth consecutive term following an election that the opposition said was rigged.

Why was Burakov arrested?

Burakov was first arrested on August 5 by police in his hometown Mogilyov, 200 kilometers (120 miles) east of the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The police suspected him of "transporting counterfeit alcohol," he told DW. After they didn't find anything illegal in the car, the officers alleged that the vehicle, which he has owned since 2013, had been stolen and the car's identification number was fake. As a result, the journalist was taken to the local police station.

A few hours later, Burakov was released, only to be arrested again outside the police station. Burakov said an unknown woman approached him after he left the police station. "I didn't even see her face and didn't know what was happening," the journalist said, adding that the police officers showed up and took him back to the station. The woman later told police that Burakov had cursed and pushed her, he said.

On August 7, the court sent Burakov to a detention facility on charges of petty hooliganism. The journalist denied the allegations.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg protested against the sentence, saying the reasons for Burakov's arrest and conviction provided by the authorities "can only be interpreted as a flimsy excuse to hinder critical and independent journalism a few days before the presidential elections in Belarus."

"On behalf of Deutsche Welle, I protest firmly and in the strongest terms against this obviously arbitrary state action. It blatantly disregards the internationally guaranteed freedom of the press," Limbourg said in a statement issued on August 7. He also demanded that the government in Belarus immediately investigate this case.

Earlier this year, on May 8, Burakov was arrested for participating in an unsanctioned demonstration. The journalist said he didn't take part in the protest and was only there as a journalist and a human rights activist.

Read more: German Foreign Minister Maas vows to ramp up pressure on Belarus

Crackdown on independent journalists

Burakov is one of the several journalists targeted by Belarusian authorities in the past few weeks. Dozens of foreign and local journalists have been arrested during protests that broke out after the controversial election. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, about 70 journalists have been detained during the protests against Lukashenko.

Many Belarusian journalists have reportedly quit their jobs at state media outlets in the past few days, with many condemning the police violence against protesters on social media.

Read more: Arrested protesters talk of brutality

Reporters Without Borders said it was "highly alarmed about the numerous arrests of journalists in Belarus after the presidential election." According to a statement released by the media watchdog on Friday, journalists were arbitrarily detained, beaten up and jailed for a longe period of time.

"Such an attack on the free press, particularly in a European country, is absolutely unacceptable," said Michael Rediske, a spokesman for the organization's board. "If the attacks don't stop immediately, the European Union should think about further measures and, for instance, impose sanctions against those politically responsible in Belarus."

Foreign ministers of the European Union countries agreed on Friday to impose new sanctions targeting Belarusian officials responsible for the violent crackdown on demonstrators and journalists.

Freed from Belarus jails, protesters recount beatings

PHOTOS

By YURAS KARMANAU


1 of 15 https://apnews.com/26f0bc08b46df6d6ab7d67683e8ca90d

FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, police clash with a protester following presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus, that demonstrators have dismissed as rigged. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)  

MORE PICTURES AT THE END
MINSK, Belarus (AP) — They emerged dazed, shaken and in tears from the detention center in Minsk, to be met by waiting relatives. They displayed the black-and-blue bruises on their bodies, saying police had beaten them mercilessly. One teenager asked his weeping mother to look away.

Authorities in Belarus have freed at least 2,000 of about 7,000 people who had been pulled off the streets by riot police in the days following a disputed election that kept the country’s iron-fisted leader, President Alexander Lukashenko, in power.

As they reunited with loved ones early Friday, they told of being struck repeatedly with truncheons, being threatened with gang rape and held amid harsh conditions and overcrowded cells. The accounts are fueling outrage at home and have European countries weighing new sanctions against officials in Belarus.

“They were beating me without mercy,” Alexei Shchitnikov told The Associated Press upon his release, his face disfigured by bruises.

The 47-year-old company director displayed a cross drawn on his back, an apparent marking by police that he should be given rough treatment.

“They were behaving like bandits and real beasts,” he added. “The people will remember Lukashenko’s ‘victory’ for a long time.”

Student Sasha Vilks showed a reporter his legs and his back deeply bruised from truncheon blows, but told his weeping mother not to look.

“They called us terrorists and beat us severely on our legs and our backs,” the 19-year-old told the AP. “They would beat us first and then ask questions.”

He said he was kept lying face down for hours in handcuffs and didn’t see the faces of his tormentors, who wore balaclavas.

“Some of them were walking around, saying ‘Give me someone to beat.’ It was really scary,” he said, breaking into tears.

Tatyana, a 21-year-old bookseller who didn’t give her last name because she feared police reprisals, said she was threatened with gang rape.

“It was a real hell,” she said. “When I was on a police bus, they threatened to rape me with a truncheon. The more I cried, the more they beat me. They kept repeating, ‘You love the president!’”

Shuddering, she added: “They were indiscriminately beating everyone there, men and women. On the police bus, I saw them break one man’s rib and he was crying in pain.”

The demonstrations began after officials announced that Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, had won 80% of the vote in Sunday’s election — a result that protesters denounced as rigged. During the four nights that followed, black-clad riot police detained thousands of largely peaceful demonstrators in Minsk and other cities after firing tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. At least one person was killed.
The graphic descriptions of savage beatings and other abuse by police has brought tens of thousands into the streets of the Belarusian capital in the biggest challenge in his tenure.

Yegor Martinovich, an award-winning journalist and the editor of the popular Nasha Niva independent online newspaper, was among those detained in the crackdown and said he was beaten ferociously while in custody.

“They beat us all with truncheons and kicked us while putting us on and off police vehicles,” he told the AP. “They made us lie on the ground for half a day, our faces down. They were hounding us with dogs, insulting us and refusing to give us food. They had just one response to all of our pleas: ‘You’ve got your revolution!’”

Martinovich said several people in his cell were covered with bruises from being hit over and over.

“When the beaten people were suffering from thirst, a guard would give a bottle of tap water for all of us,” he said. “The authorities cracked down on peaceful protesters with all the repressive power of the authoritarian state, and the consequences of that could be unpredictable.”

As the jails filled quickly to capacity, police crammed more people into cells intended for only a few inmates.

Martinovich said he and 27 others were put in a cell intended for 12 people, and they had to take turns sleeping. When he was released, guards put in 10 more. Others at a Minsk jail said dozens of men and women were packed into cells intended for only two inmates.

Many others who were not taken into custody also were hurt.

Eduard Kukhterin, a 56-year-old publisher, was struck by rubber bullets in the back and arm while entering his apartment building near a street clash.

“A police bus arrived and those black-clad thugs jumped on the pavement and started firing at people as if it were a shooting range,” he said. “It looked like a horror movie, but it’s Belarus today.”

Kukhterin said he couldn’t go to a hospital for a bullet stuck in his arm because doctors warned him they would have to report it to police, who would detain him.

The national police chief later apologized to those who were targeted indiscriminately, and the Interior Ministry, which earlier shunned questions from anguished relatives trying to locate their loved ones, opened a hotline Friday.

Lukashenko blamed protesters for triggering the crackdown, saying some of them assaulted police, who were justified in their response.

Police also broke into apartments to seize protesters.

Stas Gorelik, who is working on a doctorate at George Washington University, was visiting his parents in Minsk when he was arrested by the Belarusian security agency, which still goes by its Soviet-era name, the KGB.

“Stas’ face was broken and blood was dripping down his face when they took him away,” said his father, Lev Gorelik, who went to the apartment where his 32-year-old son was staying with his girlfriend. “His pillow was also drenched in blood.”

He said they couldn’t find him for three days until they learned he was at a KGB jail, facing charges of organizing mass riots, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The KGB has denied Gorelik access to a lawyer.

“It’s hard to explain such brutality — he was only doing science and never engaged in activism or politics,” the anguished father said.

Human rights activists are preparing an appeal to the U.N. Committee Against Torture over the violence against protesters and the abusive treatment of detainees.

“All those detained were severely beaten before, during and after their arrest,” said Valiantsin Stefanovich of the Viasna rights center. “We have documented massive abuse and torture — they were drawing crosses on people’s backs with truncheon blows, they were forcing people to engage in mass prayers and making them crawl on the ground naked.”

“In 20 years of work as a human rights defender, I have never seen such abuses and humiliation,” he said, adding that “law enforcement agents have received a carte blanche for violence.”

By allowing the crackdown, observers say Lukashenko appears to have burned his bridges to the West and made himself entirely dependent on law enforcement agencies.

“The people from the KGB and other security agencies have played an increasingly important role in Lukashenko’s entourage, and they have been able to enforce their forceful scenario,” Stefanovich said. “And the longer it goes, the less clear it becomes who depends on whom.”

The U.S. and the European Union imposed some sanctions on Belarus in the early 2000s when Lukashenko earned the nickname of “Europe’s last dictator” by stifling dissent, but some were later lifted. Throughout his rule, he has tried to blackmail Russia, his main ally and sponsor, by appearing to reach out to the West to win more subsidies.

But EU foreign ministers again are taking the first steps toward sanctions in light of the post-election crackdown.

“This outburst of cruel and unmotivated violence has put Lukashenko back in the ‘Europe’s last dictator’ niche,” said Minsk-based independent analyst Alexander Klaskovsky. “The sanctions and the rising tensions inside the country will leave the president with very little room for maneuver.”

—-

Mstyslav Chernov in Minsk contributed.

PHOTOS

FILE - In this file photo taken on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, protesters give aid to a man injured by shrapnel from a smoke grenade during clashes with police after the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)


FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2020, file photo, protesters carry a man wounded during clashes with police after the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)

Lev Gorelik, father of Stas Gorelik, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 13, 2020. Stas Gorelik, who is working on a doctorate at George Washington University, was visiting his parents in Minsk when he was arrested by the Belarusian KGB and charged with organizing mass riots. "Stas' face was broken and blood was dripping down his face when they took him away," said Lev Gorelik. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, people help a wounded demonstrator during a protest following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, a police officer detains a protester after the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, women walk through a gate after being released from a detention center where they were detained following protests of the disputed presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)


FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2020, file photo, a man shows marks on his body he says are from a police beating after being released from a detention center. Thousands of protesters were detained following rallies against a disputed presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds released from custody after the violent crackdown are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, a woman fights with a police officer in the capital of Minsk, Belarus, as others detain protesters following a disputed presidential election. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, police beat a protester at a rally following the disputed presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, police use truncheons on protesters during a protest of the disputed presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, police detain a protester as two women try to defend him during a demonstration against the disputed presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, police officers kick a demonstrator during a protest of the disputed presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, police block a street after using flash-bang grenades to disperse protesters during a demonstration against the disputed presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo, File)

Lukashenko says Putin has offered help as Belarus gears for 'March of Freedom'
VIDEOS

Issued on: 16/08/2020 -

Text by:NEWS WIRES

VIDEOS AT THE END


Vladimir Putin has offered to help ensure Belarus's security, according to its president Alexander Lukashenko, as pressure builds on the strongman leader and opposition protesters prepare for a show of force Sunday.

Thousands demonstrated in the capital Minsk Saturday after main election challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya asked supporters to rally over the weekend and keep alive a movement that poses the biggest challenge to Lukashenko's hold over the ex-Soviet country.

Many gathered at the spot where Alexander Taraikovsky, 34, died on Monday during protests against an election the opposition says was rigged to give Lukashenko another term in office.

Demonstrators heaped flowers at the spot and the crowd chanted "Thank you!" and raised victory signs. Police kept a low profile.


Belarus' Lukashenko reaches out to Putin


Many held up photographs of protesters beaten during the crackdown, while one man stood in his underwear revealing the purple bruises on his thighs, buttocks and back.


Later thousands protested outside the Belarusian state television centre, complaining that their broadcasts backed Lukashenko and gave a skewed picture of the protests.

Around 100 staff came out of the building to join the crowd, and said they planned a strike on Monday.

"Like everyone we are demanding free elections and the release of those detained at mass protests," said one employee, Andrei Yaroshevich.

Riot police later arrived at the centre and blocked off the entrance to the building.

The opposition is planning a major show of force on Sunday with a "March for Freedom" through the streets of central Minsk.


'Today is the most important day', say Belarus protesters

'I'm really afraid'

Facing the biggest challenge to his rule since taking power in 1994, Lukashenko called in Moscow's help and spoke on the phone with Putin Saturday, after warning there was "a threat not only to Belarus".

He later told military chiefs that Putin had offered "comprehensive help" to "ensure the security of Belarus".

The Kremlin said the leaders agreed the "problems" in Belarus would be "resolved soon" and the countries' ties strengthened.

While Lukashenko periodically plays Moscow off against the neighbouring EU, Russia is Belarus's closest ally and the countries have formed a "union state" linking their economies and militaries.

Lukashenko criticised Russia during his election campaign and Belarus detained 33 Russians on suspicion of planning riots ahead of polls.

Opposition protesters slammed Lukashenko for now seeking Moscow's aid and said they fear Russian intervention.

"It's obvious that our president can't deal with his own people any more, he's seeking help in the east," said Alexei Linich, a 27-year-old programmer.

"If Russia intervenes, that would be the worst. I'm really afraid of this," said Olga Nesteruk, a landscape designer.

'Will not give up the country'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday urged Lukashenko to "engage with civil society", during a trip to Poland, which has offered to act as a mediator.

Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old political novice who ran after other opposition candidates including her husband were jailed, accuses Lukashenko of rigging the vote and has demanded he step down so new elections can be held.

The 65-year-old has ruled Belarus with an iron grip and claims to have won the election with 80 percent of the vote.

Tikhanovskaya left the country on Tuesday for neighbouring Lithuania, with her allies saying she came under official pressure.

She is also demanding authorities be held to account for the crackdown, which saw police use rubber bullets, stun grenades and, in at least one case, live rounds to disperse protesters, with at least 6,700 people detained and hundreds injured.

Officials have confirmed two deaths in the unrest, including Taraikovsky -- who they say died when an explosive device went off in his hand during a protest -- and another man who died in custody in the southeastern city of Gomel.

Call for 'free and fair' vote

On Friday authorities began releasing hundreds of those arrested and many gave horrific accounts of beatings and torture.

European Union ministers have agreed to draw up a list of targets in Belarus for a new round of sanctions in response to the post-election crackdown.


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The leaders of the three ex-Soviet Baltic states -- Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia -- on Saturday condemned the crackdown and called for a new vote.

Lukashenko has dismissed the demonstrators as foreign-controlled "sheep" and "people with a criminal past who are now unemployed", repeatedly accusing foreign governments of plotting his downfall.

Tikhanovskaya on Friday announced the creation of a Coordination Council to ensure a transfer of power, asking foreign governments to "help us in organising a dialogue with Belarusian authorities".

She demanded the authorities release all detainees, remove security forces from the streets and open criminal cases against those who ordered the crackdown.

(AFP)

Belarus leader says Russia willing to help counter protests

Partner of dead Belarus protester believes police shot him

PHOTOS AT END

By YURAS KARMANU

1 of 19 https://apnews.com/9ba6d114f9aa91680e48fbca2fec14b9
A woman cries holding a poster showing a photo of a protester beaten by police in a hospital, during a rally in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Thousands of demonstrators have gathered at the spot in Belarus' capital where a protester died in clashes with police, calling for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to resign. 

(AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators in Belarus took to the streets again Saturday to demand that the country’s authoritarian leader resign after a presidential vote they called fraudulent. In response, the president declared that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had agreed to provide security assistance to restore order if Belarus requested it.

President Alexander Lukashenko spoke Saturday evening several hours after a phone call with Putin as he struggled to counter the biggest challenge yet to his 26 years in power.

Saturday was the seventh consecutive day of large protests against the results of the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election in which election officials claimed the 65-year-old Lukashenko won a sixth term in a landslide. Opposition supporters believe the election figures were manipulated and say protesters have been beaten mercilessly by police since the vote.

Harsh police crackdowns against the protesters, including the detention of some 7,000 people, have not quashed the most sustained anti-government movement since Lukashenko took power in 1994.

The demonstrators rallied Saturday at the spot in the capital of Minsk where a protester died this week in clashes with police. Some male protesters pulled off their shirts to show bruises they said came from police beatings. Others carried pictures of loved ones beaten so badly they could not attend the rally.

Luksahenko did not specify what sort of assistance Russia would be willing to provide. But he said “when it comes to the military component, we have an agreement with the Russian Federation,” referring to a mutual support deal the two former Soviet republics signed back in the 1990s.

“These are the moments that fit this agreement,” he added.

Both the European Union and the U.S. government say the presidential election in Belarus was flawed.

Lukashenkov’s main opponent in the vote, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, fled to Lithuania the day after the election, knowing that several previous presidential challengers have been jailed for years on charges that supporters say were trumped up. Other potential challengers, blocked by election officials from running, fled the country before the vote.

A funeral was held Saturday for Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester who died Monday in the capital of Minsk under disputed circumstances. Belarusian police said he died when an explosive device he intended to throw at police blew up in his

But his partner, Elena German, told The Associated Press that when she saw his body in a morgue on Friday, his hands showed no damage and he had a perforation in his chest that she believes is a bullet wound.

Hundreds of people came to pay their last respects to Taraikovsky, who lay in an open casket. As the coffin was carried out, many dropped to one knee, weeping and exclaiming “Long live Belarus!”

Video shot by an Associated Press journalist on Monday shows Taraikovsky with a bloodied shirt before collapsing on the ground. Several police are seen nearby and some walk over to where Taraikovsky is lying on the street and stand around him.

The video does not show why he fell to the ground or how his shirt became bloodied, but it also does not show that he had an explosive device that blew up in his hand as the government has said.

About 5,000 demonstrators gathered Saturday in the area where Taraikovsky died. They laid a mass of flowers in tribute, piling into a mound about 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, as passing cars blared their horns.

“It’s awful to live in a country where you can be killed at a peaceful protest. I will leave, if power isn’t changed,” said 30-year-old demonstrator Artem Kushner.

Earlier, the 65-year-old Lukashenko on Saturday rejected suggestions that foreign mediators become involved in trying to resolve the country’s political crisis.

“Listen — we have a normal country, founded on a constitution. We don’t need any foreign government, any sort of mediators, ” Lukashenko said at a meeting with Defense Ministry officials. He appeared to be referring to an offer from the leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to help resolve the politcal crisis in Belarus, a nation of 9.5 million people.

But he did discuss the situation in a call Saturday with Putin, the first publicly known direct contact between the two leaders since the election. A Kremlin statement said Putin and Lukashenko both expressed hope for a quick resolution to the tensions.

“It is important that these problems are not used by destructive forces aimed at causing injury to the cooperation of the two countries in the framework of the union state,” the Kremlin said.

Russia and Belarus reached an agreement in 1997 about closer ties between the neighboring ex-Soviet countries in a union that stopped short of a full merger, although that has collided with recent disputes between the countries and Lukashenko’s suspicions that Putin’s government wants to absorb Belarus.

Protests about the political crisis in Belarus were also held Saturday in the Czech Republic and in front of the Belarusian Embassy in Moscow.

The brutal suppression of protests in Belarus has drawn harsh criticism in the West. European Union foreign ministers said Friday that they rejected the election results in Belarus and began drawing up a list of officials in Belarus who could face sanctions over their role in the crackdown on protesters.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that he was glad to see that some protesters in Belarus had been freed but that it was not enough. He also said the presidential election in Belarus fell short of democratic standards.

“We’ve said the elections themselves (in Belarus) weren’t free. I’ve spent the last days consulting with our European partners,” he said Saturday at a news conference in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart.

“Our common objective is to support the Belarusian people. These people are demanding the same things that every human being wants,” Pompeo said. “We urged the leadership to broaden the circle to engage with civil society.”

—-

Jim Heintz in Moscow and Matthew Lee in Warsaw contributed contributed to this story.

Partner of dead Belarus protester believes police shot him

By YURAS KARMANAU

1 of 10 https://apnews.com/8631b22e4a341adf3528106b892ca0e1
Elena German reacts as she speaks during her interview with the Associated Press in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Alexander Taraikovsky's life-partner Elena German told The Associated Press on Saturday that she is sure her 34-year-old mate was shot by police. German spoke a few hours before Taraikovsky's funeral and burial, an event that could reinforce the anger of demonstrators who for the past have protested what they consider a sham presidential election and the violent police response to their protests. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The partner of a man who died in the protests engulfing Belarus says she does not believe the official account that Alexander Taraikovsky was killed when an explosive device that he intended to throw at police blew up in his hand.

Elena German told The Associated Press on Saturday that she is sure her 34-year-old partner was shot by police.

German spoke a few hours before Taraikovsky’s funeral and burial, an event that could reinforce the anger of demonstrators who have protested what they consider a sham presidential election and the violent police crackdown on opposition.

Taraikovsky died Monday as protests roiled the streets of Minsk, the capital, denouncing official figures that showed authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office.

German was able to visit the morgue and see his body on Friday, four days after he died. She said she did not believe he had been holding an explosive.

“There is a seam in the chest area — the hole was sewn up, but there is a black bruise; it’s small but we noticed. His hands and feet are completely intact, there are not even bruises, ”she said.

“Obviously, it was a shot right in the chest,” she said.

Video shot by an Associated Press journalist on Monday shows Taraikovsky with a bloodied shirt before collapsing on the ground. Several police are seen nearby and some walk over to where Taraikovsky is lying on the street and stand around him.

The video does not show why he fell to the ground or how his shirt became bloodied, but it also does not show that he had an explosive device that blew up in his hand, as the government has said.

Belarus’ Interior Ministry has declined to comment on the situation, beyond its initial claim that a protester died because of a hand-held explosive.

German said she intends to seek a full investigation. She has called on a Belarusian human rights organization for help, and wants international experts to take part in a probe.

“I am feeling outraged. I’m angry. That is why I want to achieve justice, ”she said. “In fact, I am very scared,” she added. “I was left alone, without support. I feel empty.”

About 500 people came to pay last respects to Taraikovsky, who lay in an open casket. As the coffin was carried out, many dropped to one knee, weeping and exclaiming “ Long live Belarus!”

German said Taraikovsky had worked hard at his automobile repair business and that neither of them had been interested in politics until the Aug. 9 presidential election.

The family’s views began to change after she and her husband attended a 60,000-strong campaign rally for the main opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a former teacher and the wife of a jailed blogger. Then they decided to support the post-election protests.

“He was very indignant at the illegal detentions and was proud of the people. He said — ‘Finally, finally!’ We discussed all the news every evening,” she said.

“No matter how hard they try to put up some kind of barriers, turn off the Internet, disperse these rallies, we are not fools — everyone understands everything,” German said.

Later Saturday, thousands rallied at the site where Taraikovsky died in Minsk, demanding that Lukashenko resign, with some protesters showing bruises they said were due to police beatings. The authoritarian leader himself said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to help provide security to counter the protests in Belarus if he asked for such help.

—-

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.

PHOTOS

People wave flowers at the farewell hall during the funeral of Alexander Taraikovsky who died amid clashes protesting the election results, in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People with old Belarusian National flags lay flowers as they gather at the place where Alexander Taraikovsky died amid the clashes protesting the election results, during his civil funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

This image taken from the Associated Press Television footage filmed on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, shows a protester recognized as Alexander Taraikovsky with a wound during a rally after the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 9. An Associated Press cameraman on Monday recorded a protester falling and then lying still. German viewed the video and confidently said it was Taraikovsky. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Elena German, life partner of Alexander Taraikovsky who died amid the clashes protesting the election results, and his relatives mourn during his funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Mother of Alexander Taraikovsky, who died amid clashes protesting the election results, cries at the coffin during his funeral in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Taraikovsky died Monday as demonstrators roiled the streets of the capital Minsk, denouncing official figures showing that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, had won a sixth term in office. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People hold pictures of a protesters beaten by police during a rally in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Thousands of demonstrators have gathered at the spot in Belarus' capital where a protester died in clashes with police, calling for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to resign. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Demonstrators shout slogans as hundreds of people, among them many Belarusians, march in support of Belarusian demonstrators facing a brutal crackdown from the government of President Alexander Lukashenko near the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

UK  

Makers of M&S sandwiches faced pay dock if they self-isolated, says union

Workers at Greencore factory at centre of outbreak found it difficult to comply due to sick pay warning, say reps

Kevin Rawlinson
Sun 16 Aug 2020 

 

Greencore sandwich factory in Northampton. Photograph: greencore

Workers at a factory in Northampton that is at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak were told they would be paid less than £100 per week if they had to self-isolate, making it difficult for many to comply, their representatives have claimed.

Bosses at the Greencore site, where M&S sandwiches are prepared, acknowledged that many staff were entitled to no more than the statutory sick pay rate of £95.85, as at countless workplaces around the UK, if they followed instructions to self-isolate.

“Statutory sick pay does not support people and, in a crisis like this, you can’t expect people to try to survive on £95 per week,” said Ian Hodson, the national president of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, which represents staff at the site.
He said the policy of only paying statutory sick pay applied to many people who were on minimum wage and unable to build up any savings that would help them through, while more generous company sick pay terms were available to some of their colleagues.

The Greencore case highlights an issue faced by many of the UK lower-paid workers, many of whom have faced a choice between staying away from work while ill or coming in and earning enough to live on.
Hodson also referred to the case of two employees who he said were fired after travelling to work together when at least one of them was suffering from Covid-19. While his union does not claim they were justified in coming to work, he criticised the policy of paying staff so little while they were self-isolating, saying it may have contributed to their decision to flout the guidelines.

It emerged last week that 292 people working at the site had tested positive. Greencore said it had taken the decision to proactively test staff after cases emerged in the East Midlands town.

Northamptonshire county council said 79 people returned positive NHS tests and a further 213 tested positive through the firm’s private testing. Greencore, which employs more than 2,000 people, said it had conducted contact tracing and told potentially affected people to self-isolate.

Last month the Guardian reported that more than 450 workers at four food factories across England and Wales had tested positive.

A Guardian analysis carried out in May found that almost half of the coronavirus hotspots in the US at that time were linked to meat processing plants where poultry, pigs and cattle are slaughtered and packaged.

Referring to the two complaints, a Greencore spokesman said: “In the event that colleagues have had to self-isolate, they have continued to be paid in line with the terms of their contract. This ranges from full pay to statutory sick pay, depending on the type of contract.

“In a very small number of cases where there have been direct contraventions of government policy with regard to self-isolating, which have put other colleagues at risk, we have unfortunately been obliged to take disciplinary action.”

The firm added: “Ever since the Covid-19 epidemic started to have an impact on our business, we have worked tirelessly to keep our people as safe as possible.

“All of Greencore’s sites have wide-ranging social-distancing measures, stringent hygiene procedures and regular temperature checking in place. In the case of our Northampton site, we are liaising closely with PHE East Midlands, Northamptonshire county council and Northampton borough council, who are fully supportive of the controls that we have in place.

“We have been in constant contact with unions at every stage of this process and are committed to working with them in close partnership during this hugely challenging time for our people. As ever, the health and wellbeing of our colleagues is our number one priority.

Germany's biggest union calls for 4-day week to save thousands of jobs

Germany's automotive and industrial sectors were already undergoing huge structural changes before the pandemic struck. The IG Metall union thinks a shorter working week could now help prevent mass layoffs.


WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT

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Germany's largest trade union IG Metall proposed a four-day working week ahead of the next round of collective bargaining talks due to begin next year, reported German media on Saturday.

The shorter week would be "the answer to structural changes in sectors such as the automotive industry," said union chair Jörg Hoffman to German national newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

"With this, jobs in the industry can be kept instead of being written off," added Hoffman.

Germany's automotive industry — one of the mainstays of the country's economy —is undergoing a major transformation to e-mobility, spurred by concerns over climate change as well as increasing automation and digitalization. The sector was also hit by the pandemic-induced financial crisis, although it is showing signs of recovery.

IG Metall, which represents workers from major carmakers such as Audi, BMW and Porsche, is Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts consider it a major national trendsetter in bargaining.

Read more: How coronavirus pandemic has spurred change in Germany

Firms already trialing shorter hours

Firms such as Daimler, ZF and Bosch all made agreements this summer to reduce working hours. These companies were forging the way for all businesses in the metalwork and electronics industries, said Hoffman.

He proposed compensatory wage adjustments for employees.

It was in companies' interests to shorten working hours instead of cutting staff numbers — it ensured specialists were retained and saved on redundancy costs, said Hoffman.

Read more: German industry demands subsidies for fossil fuel cars

Challenging times

Germany's automotive industry sustains around 830,000 people and contributes around 5% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Earlier this year, a research agency funded by the German government suggested that in a worst-case scenario, more than 400,000 jobs in the German car industry could be gone by 2030.

In the upcoming union talks, Hoffman said IG Metall would call for a wage increase for workers, despite the recession.


IWW 1930 SOLUTION TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION

kmm/mm (Reuters, dpa)

US allows killing sea lions eating at-risk Northwest salmon

THE SALMON ARE AT RISK BECAUSE OF DEVELOPMENT, AND REDUCTION IN 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS AS 'RED TAPE'

By GENE JOHNSON August 14, 2020

In this April 24, 2008, file photo, a sea lion eats a salmon in the Columbia River near Bonneville Dam in North Bonneville, Wash. Federal authorities on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, granted permission for Washington state, Oregon and several Native American tribes to begin killing hundreds of salmon-hungry sea lions in the Columbia River and its tributaries over the next five years. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

SEATTLE (AP) — U.S. authorities on Friday gave wildlife managers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho permission to start killing hundreds of sea lions in the Columbia River basin in hopes of helping struggling salmon and steelhead trout.

The bulky marine mammals long ago figured out that they could feast on the migrating fish where they bottleneck at dams or where they head up tributaries to spawn.

“These are places where the fish are really vulnerable,” said Shaun Clements, senior policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We have to manage this so the fish can get through to spawn.”

The new permit allows the states and several Native American tribes to kill 540 California sea lions and 176 Steller sea lions over the next five years along a 180-mile (290-kilometer) stretch of the Columbia, from Portland to the McNary Dam upriver, as well as in several tributaries. It’s the first time they have been allowed to kill the much larger Steller sea lions.

The sea lions, whose populations generally are healthy, have posed a long-running conundrum for wildlife officials, pitting mammals protected under federal law against protected — and valuable — fish runs. Complicating matters is that Columbia River salmon are a key food source for the Pacific Northwest’s endangered population of orcas, which scientists say are at risk of extinction if they don’t get more sustenance.

Over the last few decades, authorities have tried all kinds of less-lethal methods to deter the sea lions, including traps, rubber bullets and explosives, to no avail. They would return days after being relocated hundreds of miles away.

The Port of Astoria in Oregon even tried a fake, motorized orca made of fiberglass in a futile effort to keep them off its docks.

Authorities began killing some California sea lions at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River about 13 years ago, under restrictions that required them to first document each targeted animal in the area five times, observe it eating salmon and wait for it to enter a trap. Some 238 have been killed there.

Under changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act two years ago, authorities will no longer face such restrictions. They will be able to tranquilize, capture or trap any sea lions in the area, then bring them to another location to give them a lethal injection. The permit forbids them from shooting sea lions.

FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2009 file photo, a California sea lion swims near the entry to a sea lion trap on the Columbia River near Bonneville Dam in North Bonneville, Wash. Federal authorities on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020 granted permission for Washington, Oregon, Idaho and several Native American tribes to begin killing hundreds of salmon-hungry sea lions in the Columbia River and its tributaries over the next five years. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

Last year, Oregon officials killed 33 sea lions that were devouring steelhead on the Willamette River. Scientists estimated that the animals ate about one-quarter of the returning fish there, and they say runs have started to rebound since.

Sharon Young, senior strategist for marine wildlife at the Humane Society, called the sea lions the least of the salmon’s problems. Fishing, competition from hatchery fish and habitat loss, including dams and culverts that block their passage or raise water temperatures, are far more serious, she said.

“Killing the sea lions isn’t going to address any of that,” she said. “It is only going to distract from what they aren’t doing to address the real problems salmon are facing. You’re killing sea lions for nothing.”

Young served on a federal task force that reviewed the permit request that the states and tribes filed last year. Members voted 16-2 to approve the permit following a three-day hearing in May, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s regional administrator, Barry Thom, signed off Friday.

Clements of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said reducing the number of sea lions is one of many efforts to help the salmon, including billions of dollars spent on restoring habitat.

“They need all the help they can get,” he said.

Major US postal workers union endorses Biden for president
By BRIAN SLODYSKO August 14, 2020

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden signs a required documents for receiving the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in Wilmington, Del., Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)


WASHINGTON (AP) — A major union representing U.S. postal workers has endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president, a move that comes as President Donald Trump has acknowledged starving the postal service of money in order to make it more difficult to vote by mail in November’s election.

The National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents 300,000 current and retired workers, said Thursday that Trump has long been hostile to the Post Office. His administration has called for an end to collective bargaining rights, proposed service cuts and has eyed the possibility of privatizing the functions of the agency.

But those actions have escalated since the start of the pandemic, with the administration taking “steps outside of the public eye to undermine the Postal Service and letter carriers,” said union President Fredric Rolando

Biden, on the other hand, “is – was – and will continue to be – a fierce ally and defender of the United States Postal Service,” Rolando said in a statement announcing the endorsement of the former vice president and his running mate, Kamala Harris.

Trump has repeatedly railed against the suggestion that more people should vote by mail as a result of the pandemic, which he argues without offering evidence will lead to widespread voter fraud. While Trump casts his own ballot by mail, the post office has increasingly been in his cross-hairs as Democrats advocate voting by mail.

The agency’s new leader, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a former supply-chain CEO and a major donor to Trump and other Republicans, has pushed cost-cutting measures to eliminate overtime pay and hold mail until the next day if postal distribution centers are running late.

And recently there have been substantial mail delivery delays.

In an interview on Fox Business Network, Trump explicitly noted two funding provisions that Democrats are seeking in a coronavirus relief package that has stalled on Capitol Hill. Without the additional money, he said, the Postal Service won’t have the resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters who are seeking to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.

“If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money,” Trump told host Maria Bartiromo. “That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting; they just can’t have it.”

Trump’s ramped up animosity toward the postal service drew the attention of his predecessor, Barack Obama, who said it amounted to an unprecedented effort by a president to “ kneecap the postal service” to protect his reelection chances.

“What are Republicans doing where you are so scared of people voting, that you are now willing to undermine what is part of the basic infrastructure of American life?” Obama said on the Campaign HQ podcast, which is hosted by his former campaign manager David Plouffe. “I mean, it’d be the equivalent of ‘We’re not going to repair highways because people might drive to the polling places…so we’ll just let massive sinkholes in the middle of, uh, the interstate linger, because we’re worried that folks might use those roads to vote.’”

The letter carriers union, which is one of several representing postal workers, said it consulted with its members before announcing the endorsement. The American Postal Workers Union previously endorsed Biden in June.

“The Postal Service must not be allowed to fail,” Rolando, the union president, said. “NALC is proud to stand with Vice President Biden and Senator Harris in November and beyond.”

Families of Lebanese blast victims plead for outside inquiry

By ZEINA KARAM and LORI HINNANT
August 14, 2020

In this August 6, 2020 file photo, Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the scene where an explosion hit on Tuesday the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanon's judicial investigation of the Beirut port explosion started with political wrangling over the naming of a lead investigator, military threats to jail leakers and doubts over whether a panel appointed along sectarian lines could be fully impartial. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)


BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s judicial investigation of the Beirut port explosion started with political wrangling over the naming of a lead investigator, military threats to jail leakers and doubts over whether a panel appointed along sectarian lines could be fully impartial.




So for many Lebanese, their greatest hope for credible answers about the blast that wrecked much of their capital may lie with outsiders. Families of the dead and survivors on Friday called on the U.N. Security Council for an international investigation. Others pin their hopes on the French forensic police who have joined the probe and FBI investigators are expected to take part. Two French investigating magistrates have been assigned to the case, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Friday.

“We are not lawyers or politicians, we are families and people, our appeal today is to the people of the international community,” said Paul Najjar, a survivor of the explosion. “Is it acceptable today that people would find their homes shattered, their families killed, their hopes and their dreams killed as well, with no justice, in all impunity?”

A Lebanese prosecutor on Friday postponed the questioning of former and current, caretaker finance and public works ministers, pending a letter from the newly appointed investigator assigned to the case that says he lacked the authority to question ministers.

French teams have pressed ahead at their work, sending divers into the underwater crater, taking explosives samples and preparing recommendations for both the French and Lebanese magistrates. Among the French judicial police on the case are men and women who responded after the 2004 tsunami in Japan, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the November 2015 and Bastille Day 2016 terror attacks in France.

The Beirut explosion lies at the crossroads of a disastrous accident and a crime scene. It still was not known what sparked the fire that ignited nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that were stored for years in Beirut’s port next to densely populated residential areas. Documents have emerged that show the country’s top leadership and security officials were aware of the stockpile.




FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2020 file photo, NGO volunteers hold up placards against Lebanese politicians, as they protest during the visit of U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale to the main gathering point for volunteers, near the site of last week's explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. For many Lebanese, their greatest hope for credible answers about the blast that wrecked much of their capital lies with outsiders. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Search and rescue crews flew in from around the world in the immediate aftermath and found themselves looking at a scene that was both familiar and yet strangely alien.

“In an earthquake, it’s easier because we can understand ... how it moves. But in this case, we didn’t have enough elements to understand what happened,” said Alberto Boanini, a member of the Italian rescue team. The team has seen its share of quakes and forest fires, but nothing quite like the port in Beirut, where he said it was hard to fathom what could level it so completely.

Many Lebanese want the probe taken out of the hands of their own government, having learned from past experience that the long-entrenched political factions, notorious for corruption, won’t allow any results damaging to their leadership to come to light. The explosion killed more than 175 people, injured at least 6,000 and left tens of thousands homeless




Paris sent judicial police and assigned the magistrates in Paris this week because two French citizens were among the dead, and French law gives jurisdiction for an investigation if a citizen dies abroad under questionable circumstances.

But the French investigators work only at the invitation of the Lebanese, and their orders are confidential.

French officials say they have the access they need but will not say whether their inquiry extends to questioning witnesses or requesting documents. They hand over their findings to the Lebanese, but keep a mirror copy for a French inquiry. The FBI is also joining at Lebanese authorities’ invitation.

“At the request of the Government of Lebanon, the FBI will be providing our Lebanese partners investigative assistance in their investigation into the explosions at the Port of Beirut on August 4th,” the FBI said, adding that it was not an FBI investigation.

Top Lebanese officials, including President Michel Aoun, have rejected calls for an independent probe, describing it as “a waste of time” and suggesting it would be politicized. Nonetheless, Nada Abdelsater-Abusamra, a lawyer representing victims, said a letter was submitted this week to the U.N. Security Council asking for an international investigation.

“The Lebanese government refused to do it … they are claiming it will affect the sovereignty of Lebanon,” she said. “This is ridiculous. The only thing that the international investigation affects is the position of these rulers and these politicians.”

The leader of the powerful Hezbollah group on Friday said he did not trust any international investigation — claiming the first thing it would do is clear Israel of any responsibility in the port explosion.

Israel has denied involvement and so far no evidence has emerged pointing otherwise, but Aoun, who is supported by Hezbollah, has said it’s one of the theories being investigated. In a speech Friday night, Hezbollah’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Israel will be met “with an equally devastating response” if the investigation points to its involved.

In its last decision before resigning under pressure, six days after the explosion, Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government referred the case to the Higher Judicial Council, Lebanon’s highest justice authority, to carry out the investigation.

An argument then ensued with the outgoing justice minister over the investigation’s lead judge. After public wrangling, they compromised on Judge Fadi Sawwan, a former military investigating judge.

The Council itself is made up of 10 people, eight of whom are appointed according to the interests of the various political factions and religious sects in line with Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.

The authorities have so far arrested more than 19 people, including the head of the Customs Department and his predecessor, as well as the head of the port.

Lebanese say they want to see investigations into top officials who knew about the ammonium nitrate.

“They will blame the small guys while the ones who are really responsible will get away with their crime, that’s what will happen,” said Jad, a 38-year-old computer engineer who declined to give his full name in line with his company’s regulations not to discuss politics.

“If this time there is no credible, serious investigation that will lead to the punishment of everyone responsible for this disaster, it is goodbye Lebanon. No one will ever want to live in this country again,” he said, standing on a bridge overlooking the decimated port.

Explosions have marked a grim timeline in Lebanon’s modern history and have killed presidents, prime ministers and countless journalists and activists during the country’s 1975-90 civil war and beyond.

Almost none of the perpetrators were ever arrested or tried, and the truth was invariably buried. Lebanese had high hopes that the U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 killing of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri would be a chance to end impunity in Lebanon. But it took 15 years and was marred by doubts, politics and more deaths. The tribunal is to issue verdicts Tuesday.

International involvement in the investigation might bring some truth, but bringing justice is more complicated. Dov Jacobs, an international legal scholar based in the Netherlands, said the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine six years ago might be the closest analogy.

In that case, international experts had full access to the site, and international prosecutors charged three Russians and a Ukrainian with involvement in bringing down the plane and the murder of all on board. The men are on trial in a Dutch court in absentia, since none have been extradited.

But in Lebanon, Jacobs said, “the investigation itself is a tool of political influence. It’s one of those frustrating moments where immediate calls for justice are faced with a wall which is the political reality on the ground.”

___

Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report

https://apnews.com/64b3226337874969e2cbf375c6c37fc3