Protests engulf streets in Belarus after contested election

Alina Krus, 26, holds a poster at the place where a protester died amid the clashes in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020 saying "It's my birthday today. I made a wish that no one gets killed. We are peaceful people. Enough with the violence, please." Krus says it is her first time protesting in the street -- she couldn't stay home and celebrate her birthday while so many people she knows got detained.

A couple rides a scooter in front of riot police during a protest after polls closed in Belarus' presidential election, in Minsk on August 9, 2020.

A Belarusian law enforcement officer approaches women, who react while sitting on the pavement during a rally of opposition supporters following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus August 10, 2020.

A law enforcement officer drags a man during clashes with opposition supporters after poll closed at presidential election in Minsk, Belarus August 9, 2020.

A man with a placard reading "My vote was stolen" rallies on the fifth day of protests over Belarus' disputed presidential election in Minsk on August 13, 2020.

Demonstrators stand on trash containers used as a makeshift barricade during a rally following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus August 10, 2020.

Catholics, evangelicals and Orthodox believers take part in a religious procession on the fifth day of protests over Belarus' disputed presidential election in Minsk on August 13, 2020.

A woman wearing a face mask holds the former white-red-white flag of Belarus during a protest rally against police violence during recent rallies of opposition supporters, who accuse strongman Alexander Lukashenko of falsifying the polls in the presidential election, in Minsk on August 13, 2020.

A woman reacts as she is released from a detention center, following recent protests against the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus August 14, 2020.

Women react outside a detention centre, where people detained during recent protests against the presidential election results are held in Minsk, Belarus August 13, 2020.

Belarusian law enforcement officers detain a man near the site where a protester died on August 10 during a rally following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus August 11, 2020.

People talk to Belarusian law enforcement officers near the site where a protester died on August 10 during a rally following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus August 11, 2020.

Protesters carry a wounded man during clashes with police after the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, early Monday, Aug. 10, 2020.

A woman shows the victory sign to a Belarusian law enforcement officer near the site where a protester died on August 10 during a rally following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus August 11, 2020.

An elderly man gestures as he talks with riot police officers in the capital of Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. Heavy police cordons blocking Minsk's central squares and avenues didn't discourage demonstrators who again took to the streets chanting "Shame!" and "Long live Belarus!" as police moved quickly Tuesday to separate and disperse scattered groups of protesters in the capital, but new pockets of resistance kept mushrooming across downtown Minsk.

Police surround a protester during a mass rally following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, late Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.

A woman holding her child speaks on an intercom to learn about her relative, who was detained during a mass rally following the presidential election, at a detention center in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.