The 31-year-old activist died on Thursday in the hospital where he had been delivered from a police department. An investigation into the incident has been launched. The opposition believes that the death of Bondarenko is the result of the policy conducted by the country's leadership.

The human rights group said that more than 20 people had been during the rallies in Minsk, eight in Dokshytsy (Vitebsk Region), six in Brest, five in Lyakhavichy (Brest Region), Smarhon (Grodno Region) and Baranavichy (Brest Region) each. Some people were also detained in other towns across the country.

Belarus has seen massive opposition protests following the presidential election on August 9 that saw President Alexander Lukashenko reelected for a sixth term. While electoral authorities maintain that Lukashenko collected over 80 percent of the vote, the opposition insists that his key contender, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, won the election. Opposition figures also accuse the security forces of resorting to excessive violence during the protests.