Mass protests against alleged electoral fraud are continuing in Belarus nearly a month after the eastern European country held presidential elections.
Tens of thousands of supporters of the Belarusian opposition gathered in Minsk on Sept. 5 and 6 to demand that longstanding Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko leave office. An authoritarian dictator, Lukashenko has served as the country’s president for 26 years.
On Aug. 9, Belarusians went to the polls for the country’s latest presidential election. Protests erupted after the government released preliminary results showing Lukashenko winning with over 80% of the vote. The opposition claims that their candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, actually won with over 70% of the vote.
Read more: Lukashenko falsifies election, declares war on Belarusians
Both the European Union and the United States have deemed the election neither free nor fair.
In response to the protests, Lukashenko has unleashed riot police and special forces on the demonstrators. At least four protesters have been killed in the crackdown and around 8,000 were detained. Many of the detainees faced torture in captivity. Most have now been released.
According to the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna, 39 people were detained during the demonstration on Sept. 5 and 189 were detained on Sept. 6.
Read more: Despite strikes and protests, Lukashenko stays in power
