Latest update: 19/07/2011 

- Belarus - demonstrations - social networking


Belarusians become latest to harness protest power of social networks

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After a crackdown on protests against an apparently fixed election, opposition to Aleksandr Lukashenko's rule had gone quiet. But the worst economic crisis there since the fall of the Soviet Union has hit Belarusians hard, and they're losing patience with their leader. Since early June, a new movement has emerged: every Wednesday, so-called 'silent protests' are held, directed via social networking sites.

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By Gulliver CRAGG
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