B8 Esports team member Oleg “LastHero” Demidovich was arrested at a peaceful protest in Belarus. While no contact is made with him so far, it is known that he is detained at a preliminary detention prison.
Oleg “LastHero” Demidovich Arrested While Peacefully Protesting
The professional Dota2 player, Oleg “LastHero” Demidovich was arrested while attending a peaceful protest in Minsk, Belarus. This was announced by B8 Esports yesterday on Twitter. According to a statement by B8, LastHero went to meet friends on Victory Square in Minsk. According to eyewitnesses there were no violent encounters at the square. Around 7:00 pm local time, LastHero was approached by police officers and arrested. He was then taken into the Victory Square metro station where he was detained along with 50 other people.
A friend of LastHero, Dmitry “Fishman” Polishchuk contacted the police yesterday to see if LastHero had been detained but was instructed that the names of detainees will be revealed today. Currently it is known that LastHero was detained in a preliminary detention prison in the Zhodino located in Misk region. Although no contact has been made with him, one of his friends which was at the protest had already been released. B8 urged people on social media to contact them if they have information about the exact location of Oleg “LastHero” Demidovich.
The esports organization B8 was created back in January this year by The International 2011 champion and Dota2 star Danil “Dendi” Ishutin. Since then, the team competed in various tournaments including ESL One Los Angeles, BEYOND EPIC, WePlay! Pushka League and more.
The Protests in Belarus Continue
The protests in Belarus were triggered last week, following the win of Alexander Lukashenko with some 80% of the vote. With doubts that vote was rigged, thousands of people in Belarus were out on the streets protesting. Here, it is important to mention that so far, Lukashenko has ruled Belarus for 26 years.
Earlier today, in a statement a United Nations human rights expert said: “We are outraged by the police violence towards peaceful protesters and journalists.” With that in mind, CNN reported earlier today that by now some 6,700 people were arrested at protests in Belarus. Currently it is known that there is at least 1 person who lost his life. Furthermore, local news outlets in the country reported that at least 50 journalists were arrested or injured during the protests.
In light of the current situation, the European Union and the United States are thinking of introducing sanctions against Belarus. In contrast, regimes like the one in China and Russia have expressed support of the recent win by Lukashenko.