Protesters and riot police have clashed in Belarus’s capital Minsk and other cities, after a state TV exit poll said long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected in Sunday’s election.
Police used stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannon. A human rights group said one protester was killed and about 120 arrested.
Mr Lukashenko won 80% of the vote, according to a preliminary count.
But the main opposition leader has refused to recognise the results.
“We have already won, because we have overcome our fear, our apathy and our indifference,” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said.
The preliminary results give her 9.9% of the vote, but her campaign said she had been polling 70-80% in some areas.
Ms Tikhanovskaya entered the election in place of her jailed husband and went on to lead large opposition rallies.
Mr Lukashenko, 65, has been in power since 1994.
The lead-up to Sunday’s poll saw a crackdown on activists and journalists amid the country’s biggest opposition demonstrations in years.
Demonstrators took to the streets in central Minsk as soon as voting ended and the exit polls were released late on Sunday.
Many chanted “Get out” and other anti-government slogans. Riot police fired stun grenades, used batons, and made arrests as they dispersed the demonstrators.
Early on Monday, Valentin Stefanovic from the Belarusian human rights group Viasna, told Reuters news agency that at least one person had died after being knocked over by a police van and dozens had been injured.
He added that at least 120 people had been detained.
However, the interior ministry denied that there had been any deaths.
Similar protests took place in Brest, Gomel, Grodno and other cities.
Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC
