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The Slipper Revolution was a series of mass pro-democracy protests held against Alexander Lukashenko's pro-Russian authoritarian government in Belarus from May 2020 to April 2021. The protests began on the eve of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, during which Lukashenko - often called by his contemporaries "Europe's last dictator" - sought a sixth term in office. The protests intensified after the results of the presidential election were announced on 9 August; while the opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed to have won the election with over 60% of the vote, Lukashenko's regime claimed that Lukashenko had been re-elected with over 80% of the vote and proclaimed Lukashenko the winner. On 14 August, Tsikhanouskaya created the Coordination Council to coordinate protests against the falsified election and the Lukashenko regime, and, on 12 October, the Coordination Counccil called on Lukashenko to cease his repression, free all detainees, and step down by 25 October 2020. After the deadline passed, the opposition launched a nationwide general strike. The European Union sided with the pro-democracy movement, rejecting the legitimacy of the election and calling for new elections. Lukashenko's claim was backed by the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin, and Belarus reciprocated against the European Union by passing sanctions of its own against EU officials. By the end of 2020, over 1,000 protesters were reported by the Viasna Human Rights center to have been tortured. By April 2021, repression from the government put an end to large-scale demonstrations in the country. However, decentralized acts of resistance continued, and, on 23 May 2021, the Belarusian government forced Ryanair Flight 4978 to land at Minsk National Airport, where two of its passengers, journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, were arrested. The act led to the EU halting European airlines from flying over Belarusian airspace, while Russia again sided with Belarus.

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