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Belarusian Opposition Holds Rally In Minsk


At least 120 people gathered in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, to commemorate victims of repression by Soviet authorities during Josef Stalin's "Great Terror."

On October 29, participants placed candles on the steps of the headquarters of the Belarusian KGB security service.

The unsanctioned event, which was organized by the opposition, was held amid a tight police presence.

Opposition leader Mikalay Statkevich, who was released from prison in August, said at the event, "We should remember the crimes of Stalinism against the Belarusian people as well as stop the new crimes of today's successors of the executioners," he said.

He also expressed hope that the event will “expand freedom" in Belarus.

President Alyksandr Lukashenka won a fifth term earlier this month in an election that was judged by Western monitors to be neither free nor fair.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP

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