Protesters keep pressure on Belarus dictator, and pay the price By Alexandra Odynova Putin extends $1.5 billion lifeline to Belarus
Moscow Anti-government protests continued on Monday in the capital of Belarus for the 128th day. Scores of demonstrators hit the streets of Minsk calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to resign, despite hundreds of people being detained for doing the same thing just hours earlier, and tens of thousands over the past few months.
The mass-protests on Sundays have become a staple of Belarus beleaguered pro-democracy movement. Every week, despite frigid temperatures, they continue to gather to denounce the country s long-time authoritarian leader, who claimed victory in a disputed August presidential election and assumed his sixth term in office. Every week, hundreds more are arrested for doing so.
awarded rice badawi the prize for human rights and renewed calls for his release. here is more on his story from becky anderson. reporter: the scenes that sparked a global outcry. cell phone video believed to be showing saudi blogger rife badawi getting lashed in january. now the 31-year-old is being awarded the european parliament s sakharov human rights prize in recognition for his contribution to human rights and democracy. translator: in the case of mr. badawi, fundamental human rights are not only being respected, they have been stepped on. so i would like to call on the king today to stop the execution of this sentence, to release mr. badawi, to allow him to go back to his wife and to allow him to travel here for the december session to receive this prize. reporter: badawi was sentenced to a hotel of one thousand lashes and ten years in prison in 2012. his charges include cybercrime