Release of detainees in Belarus

1 Belarus

All the detainees, arrested during the mass protests, were released from the temporary detention center on the Okrestsin Street, in Minsk. The «tut.by» website reported that the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus, Alexander Barsukov, came to the temporary detention center. He said that everyone in the isolation ward will be freed by 6 AM. He added that there was no abuse of the detainees during the protests. Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Yuri Karaev, stated that he gave an order to release the detainees. He added that he takes the responsibility for the injuries, sustained by the random people during the protests. He apologized to those who ‘accidentally suffered’ during the events. The Telegram channel »Pool of the First» quoted the chairwoman of the upper house of the parliament of Belarus, Natalya Kochanova, who said that the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, instructed to investigate all the detentions during the mass protests.

2 Belarus

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus reported that the department is opening a hotline to inform the citizens about the whereabouts of people, detained during the protests. The spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, Olga Chemodanova, stated during a meeting with reporters that the Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus, Yuri Karaev, ordered a complete check of every fact of violence against the journalists. She reminded about the order from the Interior Minister to «not touch the journalists». The Minister of Information of Belarus, Igor Lutsky, stated that the Ministry of Information of Belarus condemns the violence against the mass-media representatives during the mass protests. “We are against violence, not only against the journalists, but also against all citizens of the country” — he stated. The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that the past day was the most peaceful among the last 4 days. The protests were mostly peaceful. More than 2,000 people, detained during the protests, have been released by now.

3 Israel — The Gaza Strip

The IDF press service reported that in response to the launch of balloons with explosives at the Israeli territory — the IDF attacked facilities of the radical movement ‘Hamas’ in the Gaza Strip. The attack took place on Friday night. «In response to a series of explosive balloons, launched from the Gaza Strip at the Israeli territory, we attacked an air defense post, some underground infrastructure, and several observation posts of the Hamas in the Gaza Strip» — the report specified. It was the 5th strike in a month on the military targets of the movement ‘Hamas’ in the Gaza Strip, in a response to the launch of balloons with explosives.

4 Syria

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, stated that Russia is concerned about the repeating attempts of the terrorists in Syria to attack the Russian airbase ‘Khmeimim’. She reminded that on 10th of August an another attack by 3 UAVs on the airbase was repelled. Zakharova underlined that «the terrorists have increased the number of shelling of positions of the government troops and the nearby settlements». Provocations continue in the security corridor along the M4 highway, which temporarily suspended the joint patrolling of the highway. Maria Zakharova added that the situation in the north-east of Syria is being complicated by the protests of the Arab population from the region across the Euphrates River against the actions of the Kurdish authorities, the illegal presence of the US troops, and the illegal production of Syrian oil with the support of the USA, which is undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.