West cries foul over Belarus election as Lukashenko eyes seventh term
- Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election that was set to hand another five years in power to President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin.
The United States and the European Union both said in the run-up to Sunday's vote that it could not be free and fair because independent media are banned in Belarus and all leading opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee abroad. He faces four other candidates, none of whom have mounted any serious challenge or criticism. A total of 6.9 million people were registered to cast their ballots before voting ends at 1700 GMT.Despite saying he was too busy to pay attention to the campaign, Lukashenko delivered a sweetener to voters in the final days by raising pensions by 10% from next month.
Lukashenko used his security apparatus to crush the demonstrations that year, arresting tens of thousands of people. Human rights group Viasna, which is banned as an"extremist" organisation, says there are still some 1,250 political prisoners, even after he pardoned over 250 in the past year.
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