Popularly known as the "tax on social parasites" it slaps a levy of $250 on those who work less than 183 days per year. Those officially registered unemployed are exempt but must do community service for $10 per month.

The latest protests were in provincial towns. On Sunday, at least 600 people joined a rally in Babruysk, 1,000 in Orsha and hundreds in Brest and Rogachev. On Saturday hundreds protested in Pinsk and on Friday 1,000 took to the streets in Molodechno.

Protests of this scale are rare in the former Soviet republic, run since 1994 by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has described himself as the "last dictator in Europe".

Many protesters were middle-aged and elderly people who complained there was no work for them.

A protest in the capital Minsk last month drew around 2,000 people, the largest in the country for six years. On Thursday Lukashenko said the tax, introduced in 2015, would be suspended pending amendments.

Belarus has been in recession since 2015. The average monthly salary has fallen from an all-time high of $630 in mid-2014 to $380.

On Sunday, protesters in Babruysk and Orsha called for Lukashenko's resignation. Authorities did not use force against the protesters but more than a dozen activists were detained later. </s> Thousands of people in Belarus took to the streets on Saturday to oppose a “social parasites” tax on people who have been unemployed for six months. The tax promises to fine people about $230 if they have not worked in the past six months in order to push them to find a job. Critics say the levy punishes people who are already impoverished. Belarusian police arrested hundreds of people during the massive protest in the capital of Minsk, where demonstrators reportedly shouted "Fascists!" at authorities repeatedly over the course of the day.

Officers also blocked several hundred more protesters from entering a demonstration that had been forbidden by the government, according to the BBC. Reuters reported that several of the detained protesters had their signs confiscated and that some, including at least 10 journalists, had been beaten by police. “I’m afraid but for how long can I be afraid? Why should I be afraid of prison if I’m already in prison?” demonstrator Lubov Sankevich told the news agency.

 Another protester, Alexander Ponomarev, told ABC News that police were “beating the participants, dragging women by the hair to buses.” Video footage showed many of those detained were elderly protesters.

The protest Saturday marked the largest gathering in a series of demonstrations that had taken place over the past few weeks, the BBC reported. Two other protests occurred Saturday in the cities of Brest and Grodno, according to ABC News. No arrests were reported from either location. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that while he had suspended the tax for a year, he would not do away with it completely as he believed it encouraged discipline among the unemployed. </s> Hundreds of demonstrators marched in the Belarusian city of Gomel to protest a law against “social parasitism.”

The February 19 protest included people of all ages and passed without incident despite not having been approved in advance by the authorities.

On February 17, about 2,000 people protested in the capital, Minsk, many of them carrying placards attacking authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

About 60,000 people have signed a petition opposing the law, which requires people who were employed fewer than 183 days in a calendar year to pay a tax of about $200 to combat what Lukashenka calls “social parasitism.”

The law exempts registered job-seekers, homemakers, subsistence farmers, and those working in Russia. Officials say only about 10 percent of the 430,000 Belarusians affected by the law have paid the tax so far.

The deadline for compliance is February 20.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and Interfax </s> In most democracies, a two-thousand strong protest would be regarded as small. In Belarus, where strongman Alexander Lukashenko has been in power since 1994, it is far from ordinary. Even more unusual, the authorities appeared to tolerate the protest. Protesters in several Belarusian cities took to the streets to protest against the introduction of a new law taxing the unemployed. Two thousand people demonstrated in the capital Minsk alone. A further 2000 came out in Gomel, Belarus' second city near the Russian border. Hundreds others marched in other cities. It was the largest protest since the 2010 anti-government demonstrations, which led to mass arrests, a bloody crackdown and the isolation of the regime. It comes at a tense time for the Belarusian authorities, engaged in open clashes with their closest ally, Russia. Widely known as the “Law Against Social Parasites,” the presidential decree would require Belarusians out of work for over 183 days per year to pay $250 to the state. This is equivalent to more than half of the average monthly salary. Belarusian tax authorities say around 470,000 people would be obliged to pay the tax. Fewer that 10 percent have already paid it.

“This might look like a small protest from the outside, but they are actually really big for us,” says Belarusian political analyst Viktor Karbalevich. Belarusian authorities have defended the tax as a way of paying for free education. But the fact that it hits the poorest in society has not squared well with many. Belarus is in its third year of a serious economic recession, provoked by a slump in oil prices and the knock-on effect of neighbouring Russia's worsening economic problems. Most Belarusians are feeling Moscow's recession: many have relatives working in Russia and sending less cash back home. Although Belarus' economic downturn has been ongoing for some time, there has been no clear indicator of social discontent until now. State propaganda has been showing events in Ukraine as a warning to Belarusians: protests could lead to a Maidan-type situation, so it’s best to choose the path of stability and stick with Lukashenko.



But, three years on from the Ukrainian revolution, the argument is losing its appeal. Unemployment is rising fast and government propaganda looks increasingly helpless. People are being laid off en mass; poverty and homelessness has risen sharply. Many Belarusians are also employed unofficially, which possibly makes them liable for the tax too. "The demonstrators think the state should help them through the tough times rather than make them pay more,” says Karbalevich.

All of this has put Belarusian authorities in a tight spot. On the one hand, Lukashenko cannot suppress these protests like he has done in the past — and he seems to recognize this. Minsk is trying to normalize relations with the West and demonstrate, particularly to Brussels, that it is able to liberalize. “Repressions would be very bad in terms of relations with Europe,” says Belarusian political scientist Alexander Klaskovsky. Even if authorities wanted to lock up demonstrators, it would backfire domestically. Previous anti-government protests were mainly staged by the political opposition. Then, it was easy for the police to round them up and throw them in prison. But cracking down on ordinary citizens is much riskier and would inevitably provoke more protests. Although the protests have empowered Belarus' opposition movement — with many of its leaders recently amnestied from prison, like Mikola Statkevich, taking part — it has not played a leading role in the protests. Banners like “Lukashenko Leave” and “Zhivee Belarus” (an opposition slogan) were few and far between. The reasonable solution for Lukashenko would be to bin the decree, says Karbalevich. “It is stupid and nobody needs it,” he says. The financial benefit to government is minimal, and a large part of the state apparatus is now forced to work on its implementation. But for Lukashenko, psychologically, taking a step back is impossible. Lukashenko is facing crisis of falling living standards and growing social discontent. 

 “That is dangerous for a man who says he controls everything,” says Karbalevich. </s> MINSK (Reuters) - Street protests against a tax on adults who are not in full-time work spread from Belarus’s capital Minsk to other towns on Sunday, local media reported.

Around 2,000 people took to the streets of Gomel, Belarus’s second city, the independent news agency tut.by reported, and hundreds more marched in other cities.

The new tax, enshrined in a decree on preventing social dependency, widely known as the “Law against social parasites”, requires those who declare less than 183 days of work per year to pay $250 in compensation for lost taxes - more than half an average monthly salary.

On Friday, about 2,000 people demonstrated in Minsk, one of the largest protests of recent years under the authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko.

The protests were unauthorized but appeared to be tolerated by the authorities.

Belarus has been in recession since 2015 due to a slump in oil prices and contagion from an economic downturn in neighbouring Russia, where many Belarussians work in order to send money home.

Tax authorities say around 470,000 people are liable for the tax, but fewer than 10 percent have paid, generating just $6 million in extra revenue for the government. </s> Hundreds of Belarusians defied a protest ban to march against a so-called parasites tax on the long-term unemployed in the latest anti-government demonstration in an eastern European country.

Police yesterday began arresting protesters after blocking the march using a cordon of riot police wielding clubs and holding shields.

Belarus has seen a wave of protests over the past two months against President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994.

“They’re beating the participants, dragging women by the hair to buses. I was able to run to a nearby courtyard,” demonstrator Alexander Ponomarev said. The march took place on the 99th anniversary of the proclamation of the Belarusian People’s Republic, which lasted just six months when it was formed in 1918.

Earlier, police raided the office of the human rights group Vesna. About 30 of its activists were detained, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee said.

In the days leading up to the demonstration, more than 100 opposition supporters were sentenced to jail terms of three to 15 days, Vesna reported before the raid.

Prominent opposition figure Vladimir Neklayev was reportedly pulled off a train by police during the night as he tried to travel to Minsk.

In Romania last month hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets for days in protest at a bill decriminalising official misconduct.

Yesterday’s demonstrators in Belarus shouted “shame” and “basta [enough]” and deployed the opposition’s red and white flag, first used by the independent Belarusian People’s Republic in 1918 and again after independence from the Soviet Union.

In his 23 years as president, Lukashenko has stifled dissent and free media and retained much of the Soviet-style command economy.

The protests this year initially focused on his unpopular “anti-parasite” law that calls for a £185 tax on anyone who works less than six months a year, but does not register with the state labour exchange.

But the protests broadened into general dissatisfaction with his rule, which some critics have characterised as Europe’s last dictatorship. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC filmed the beatings as protesters were arrested

Police in Belarus have arrested hundreds of people during protests against a so-called "social parasites" tax on the under-employed.

Thousands defied a ban to protest, taking to the streets of Minsk and other cities. Demonstrators shouted "Fascists!" at riot police.

There have been weeks of sporadic protests against a $230 (£185) levy on those unemployed for six months.

President Alexander Lukashenko insists the tax will not be scrapped.

He says it instils discipline in the workshy, though he has suspended it for this year.

Opponents say it punishes those who cannot find a job.

Image copyright AP Image caption President Lukashenko has run Belarus since 1994

'Beating the participants'

Organisers called the protest Freedom Day, evoking the independent Belarus that lasted just six months after the First World War, in 1918.

The march in the capital Minsk took place on the 99th anniversary of the proclamation of the Belarusian People's Republic.

Demonstrators tried to march down one of the major streets in Minsk, but were blocked by police who began arresting them, along with journalists covering the protest.

Image copyright EPA

"They're beating the participants, dragging women by the hair to buses. I was able to run to a nearby courtyard," demonstrator Alexander Ponomarev told AP news agency.

Earlier, police raided the offices of human rights group Vesna and detained about 30 activists. The authorities had already jailed more than 100 opposition supporters for terms of between three and 15 days in the lead-up to the demonstration, reports said.

At the scene, by Sergey Kozlovsky, BBC Russian Service, Minsk

It seemed like the whole city was in a state of emergency - police everywhere, a lot of police trucks, water cannons, cars with equipment for storming barricades.

We heard that people who were unable to get to the first meeting place, the Science Academy metro station, gathered in another place - Yakub Kolas square. There we saw a crowd with white-red-white flags, which are a symbol of opposition in Belarus. The crowd was around 1,000-1,500 strong.

We started filming there. People shouted "long live Belarus". Very soon riot police appeared. In a couple of minutes police blocked the whole street from both sides. Protesters were surrounded.

Several police trucks were sent in and arrests started. Riot police started to detain literally everyone, even some journalists and old people were detained. Those who were trying to resist were beaten.

Earlier this month Mr Lukashenko said people who worked fewer than 183 days a year would not have to pay the tax this year and said those who had already paid it last year would be compensated if they found a job.

According to a recent tax inspection, 470,000 people should have paid the tax but only 50,000 had done so, Reuters news agency said.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Protesters and journalists covering the demonstration in Minsk were arrested

Image copyright AP Image caption Police were out in force on the streets of Minsk

Image copyright Reuters Image caption This was one of the largest protests in Belarus for several years

Mr Lukashenko has run Belarus - a country where little dissent is tolerated - since 1994.

He has been described by some Western officials as "Europe's last dictator".

However, Mr Lukashenko has recently been seeking to improve ties with the West and lessen the country's dependence on Russia. </s> MINSK: Street protests against a tax on adults who are not in full-time work spread from Belarus's capital Minsk to other towns on Sunday, local media reported. Around 2,000 people took to the streets of Gomel, Belarus's second city, the independent news agency tut.by reported, and hundreds more marched in other cities.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Channelnewsasia.com. </s> Belarus has defended the mass arrests on Saturday during protests against a tax on those seen as under-employed.

Hundreds were arrested and some beaten up as thousands took to the streets of the capital, Minsk, and other cities.

The foreign ministry said the demonstrations were not peaceful as "petrol bombs and arms-laden cars" were found near the Minsk protest.

Police detained more people on Sunday in Minsk and elsewhere during further demonstrations.

Several dozen were detained in central Minsk, according to the news website Tut.by, as they expressed solidarity with those held on Saturday.

Human rights website Charter97 said there were more, small protests, in other cities.

Defending the government, foreign ministry spokesman Dzmitryy Mironchyk said the "actions of law enforcement agencies were completely appropriate" on Saturday.

He said the rallies had been unauthorised, which "bears specific consequence in any country of the world", and noted that no tear gas or water cannons were used.

Separately, the family of senior opposition figure, Mikalay Statkevich, have said they are concerned for his welfare because he has not been heard from since 24 March. An opposition website quoted the security services as denying knowledge of his whereabouts.

Mr Statkevich had been expected to lead Saturday's protests.

The authorities are reported to have jailed more than 100 opposition supporters for terms of between three and 15 days in the lead-up to Saturday's demonstration.

The weekend's events follow weeks of sporadic protests against a $230 (£185) levy on those unemployed for six months, dubbed a "social parasites" tax.

President Alexander Lukashenko insists the tax will not be scrapped and says it instils discipline in the workshy.

However, he has suspended it for this year. Opponents say it punishes those who cannot find a job.

Described by some in the West as "Europe's last dictator", Mr Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994.

He tolerates little dissent, but has recently been trying to improve ties with the West and reduce the country's dependence on Russia.
Thousands of people protest in Minsk, Belarus, despite a ban on protests, against a so-called "social parasites" tax on the unemployed.