Belarusian leader Lukashenko replaces security chiefs

[September 03, 2020]  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has appointed new heads of the KGB security service, the security council and the state control committee amid protests and strikes over a disputed election, the official Belta news agency reported on Thursday.

Lukashenko said he won an Aug. 9 presidential election by a landslide, but protesters say it was marred by massive vote-rigging allegations and have taken to the streets for more than three weeks demanding he step down.

Retaining the loyalty of the security forces, who have helped him crack down hard on the protests, is vital to Lukashenko as he tries to navigate the most serious challenge to his 26 years in power.

He appointed Ivan Tertel, formerly head of the state control committee, to head the KGB. Valery Vakulchik, who served as chairman of the state security committee, was appointed secretary of the country's security council, Belta reported.

Lukashenko also appointed Vasily Gerasimov as acting head of the state control committee.

The behavior of the security forces is in focus after human rights experts from the United Nations said this week they had received reports of hundreds of cases of torture, beatings and mistreatment of protesters by police.

The Belarusian government has denied abusing detainees and has said its security forces have acted appropriately against demonstrators.

Separately, two former TV presenters were arrested in the capital Minsk on Wednesday night, family and local media said.

Broadcaster Euroradio said Denis Dudinsky was detained by uniformed officers who dragged him into a black minibus near his house.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko chairs a meeting on industrial development, in Minsk, Belarus August 27, 2020. Sergei Sheleg/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS

A second TV anchor, Dmitry Kokhno, was also arrested and driven away, according to his wife Nadezhda. She wrote on Instagram that he was held overnight in Minsk's Okrestina jail and would appear in court on Thursday morning.

"I thank God our son didn't see it (the arrest)," she said, alongside a black and white photo of her husband with the small boy.

Lukashenko this week thanked Russian state-backed television

channel RT for providing journalists to help prop up Belarusian

state media after hundreds of staff went on strike in protest

against his rule.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said on Wednesday the government would not tolerate what he described as journalists condemning the authorities and supporting illegal protests.

"It is absolutely unacceptable for us and the authorities will respond adequately in this situation,” Makei said.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Osborn)

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