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President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko wins sixth term as election protests convulse the country

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko arrives to vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk on August 9, 2020: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko arrives to vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk on August 9, 2020: POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Belarus police and protesters have clashed after a presidential election in which the country’s longtime leader won his sixth consecutive term despite rising discontent with his authoritarian rule.

President Alexander Lukashenko took 80.2 per cent of the vote, while his main opposition challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya had only 9.9 per cent, Belarus' central election commission announced on Monday after all ballots were counted.

The announcement may exacerbate tensions among opposition supporters who believe the results of the vote were rigged, thousands of whom took to the streets in a number of Belarusian cities and towns on Sunday night, protesting against the early count suggesting Mr Lukashenko’s landslide victory.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, a former English teacher and political novice, rejected the official figures, saying: “I will believe my own eyes – the majority was for us.”

Human rights groups meanwhile said one person was killed and dozens were injured during a police crackdown on the protests, which saw demonstrators in the capital, Minsk, face rows of riot police in black uniforms who moved quickly to disperse the rallies, firing flash grenades and beating them with truncheons.

The demonstrations came in the wake of a pre-election campaign period that generated the country's biggest opposition rallies in years as political tensions escalated in the ex-Soviet nation, which Mr Lukashenko, 65, has ruled with an iron fist for 26 years.

Mr Lukashenko

has not yet commented on the election results or the protests, but had vowed to crush any opposition demonstrations while voting on Sunday.

Interior ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova meanwhile said on Monday that police efforts to restore order continued overnight. Ms Chemodanova would not be drawn on how many people were detained, however.

Belarus’s investigative committee has opened a criminal probe into mass riots and violence towards police officers.

According to the Viasna human rights group, more than 100 protesters were detained, but the actual number is considered likely to be much higher.

“What has happened is awful,” Ms Tsikhanouskaya told reporters.

Sunday's election saw two prominent opposition challengers denied places on the ballot, while the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose assessments of elections are widely regarded as authoritative, was not invited to send observers.

Three journalists from the independent Russian TV station Dozhd were detained earlier after interviewing an opposition figure and were expected to be deported.

An Associated Press journalist was beaten by police and treated at a hospital.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, the wife of a jailed opposition blogger, had managed to unite opposition groups and draw tens of thousands to her pre-election campaign rallies, tapping into fatigue with Mr Lukashenko’s autocratic rule.

The 37-year-old had criss-crossed the country of 9.5 million people, seizing on public frustration over a worsening economy and Mr Lukashenko’s swaggering response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Belarus has reported more than 68,500 coronavirus cases and 580 deaths, but critics have accused authorities of manipulating the figures to downplay the death toll.

Mr Lukashenko has dismissed the virus as “psychosis” and declined to apply measures to stop its spread, saying a lockdown would have doomed the already weak economy.

He announced last month that he had been infected with Covid-19, but had no symptoms and recovered quickly, allegedly thanks to playing sports.

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