Developing story out of Belarus, where
thousands are begining to gather after what appears to be a rigged Presidential vote:
Several thousand Belarussian opposition supporters have gathered in a main square in Minsk as voting in the country's presidential election ended.
They claim that President Alexander Lukashenko has rigged the vote to ensure a third term in office.
Mr Lukashenko has warned he will crush any attempt to stage a popular revolt.
More than two hours before the official end of voting, exit polls on state controlled TV suggested Mr Lukashenko had won 82% of the vote.
The same poll said that the main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, had won just 5%.
According to election officials the turnout has been more than 80%.
The main opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich, has called for the protests fearing the rigged vote. Previously, it was reported that another opposition candidate was detained and beaten. Lukashenko has threatened to have Mr. Kozulin,
one of his opponents thrown out of the country...
"It doesn't matter, who wins - me or Milinkevich," Alexander Kozulin said.
"The main thing is to make sure that Lukashenko doesn't get re-elected."
If he does, then Mr Kozulin could face reprisals.
President Lukashenko has already called for his opponent to be driven from the country.
But Alexander Kozulin says he is ready for a fight.
"I couldn't give a damn what Lukashenko is planning to do with me," Mr Kozulin told me.
"I'm not scared of prison or my own death."
Earlier this week, unofficial observers were detained, questioned, and
ordered from Belarus:
Eight members of a Scandinavian team of unofficial election observers have been ordered to leave the country, days before the presidential elections.
The BBC News website spoke to one of the those arrested - Michael Johnson, 23, the Belarus co-ordinator for the Social Democratic Youth of Denmark (DSU).
----------------------------------------------------
We have been in Belarus since Sunday. Some of us are from the DSU, which together with Silba make up Friends Across Borders.
We came to carry out exit polls to prove to the world whether or not the elections were fair. While we were out we were harassed by police who were questioning us.
During the day, they arrested one of our group and he was questioned for several hours.
When he came back to our hotel the police came and arrested six of us.
They confiscated our computers and our information devices and took us to a police station.
We stayed there for four or five hours. They questioned us one by one about what we were doing and our project. We explained to them. There was no rough treatment.
They took information from our memory sticks and so they have information about us - we are in all six regions.
It was surreal, we were afraid but we stuck together and we are young.
We are leaving on Thursday to go back to our families.
But our personal situation is not so important, what we are scared about is what they may do to the translators we used and the people we have talked to.
It is only a symbol of the elections and this country. This is a repressive dictatorship that will win the elections, as the president says "elegantly" - meaning opposition will be crushed.
I'm scared about what will happen after and in the future. They are not interested in them being fair.
The UN Special Reporter for Belarus filed this report Friday, March 17, 2006, ahead of the vote, which reinforces much of what is posted in this story...
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Belarus,Adrian Severin, strongly condemns the escalation of human rights violations committed by the Belarusian Government against the independent press, opposition candidates and their supporters, and human rights defenders, ahead of the presidential election in Belarus. The Special Rapporteur expresses his deepest concern over the detention and beating of presidential candidate Alexander Kazulin; the imprisonment of Vincuk Viachorka, aide of presidential candidate Alexander Milinkevich; the numerous cases of arrest, trial and ill-treatment of independent political activists; the persecution of Belarusian and foreign journalists, particularly those who were beaten and detained while trying to monitor the arrest of presidential candidate Alexander Kazulin; and the crackdown on independent newspapers, particularly Tovarishch, Narodnaya Volya, Deolvaya Gazeta, and Zgoda, by the Belarusian Government.
I will be updating this Diary, so please check back later for developments... it is now nearly 9PM in Minsk, and the polls have been closed for about 3 hours..as of 1PM PT.
UPDATED, 21:00 GMT, 13:00PT: So far so good; but riot police assembling: CNN reports 10,000 protesting in main square:
In one of the largest opposition rallies in Belarus in recent years, at least 10,0000 demonstrators defied official warnings to stay away and converged on central October Square after polls closed.
Police at the scene were not impeding the demonstrators, who were waving dozens of European Union and blue opposition flags and the white and red national colors banned by Lukashenko. But witnesses said riot police were massing in adjacent streets.
Braving freezing temperatures and snow, many brought flowers in a sign that their protest was peaceful.
From the
AP, also 21:00GMT, about 1PM PT:
"I came here to find out the real results of the election," student Veronika Danilyuk, 19, said. "I believe that he's [Milinkevich's] the only one who can guarantee freedom and fairness to our country."
and
The state has mounted a campaign of threats and allegations of violent, foreign-backed overthrow plots that its opponents say is aimed at frightening people off the streets and justifying the potential use of force against protesters. Security was tightened Sunday near the square and streets were closed to traffic.
UPDATE 0:30 GMT, 4:30PT; Popular protest, yes;
Popular uprising, no ...
But the BBC's Emma Simpson in Minsk, says there is no evidence of any popular uprising such as the large-scale street protests which led to the fall of leaders in other ex-Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia.
However, the opposition has called for new elections in the face of fraud...
Mr Milinkevich told the crowd that claims his rival Mr Lukashenko had won a landslide victory, and thus a third term in office, were a lie.
"We demand new, honest elections. This was a complete farce," he said.
The head of the central election commission, Lidiya Yermoshina, said on state TV that with 17% of the vote counted, Mr Lukashenko had won 89% of the vote and Mr Milinkevich just 3.8%.
And also from CNN, there is a sense that this crowd in October Square is
jubulent in the face of defeat...
The crowd was the biggest the opposition had mustered in years, reaching at least 10,000, according to AP reporters' estimates.
"Lukashenko cannot have won 80 percent!" said Alexander Kozulin, another opposition candidate, referring to exit polls -- conducted by two groups the opposition says are loyal to the government and released just hours after voting began -- that projected he would win more than 80 percent of the vote.
"Cannot! Cannot! Cannot!" the crowd chanted.
Some waved a national flag that Lukashenko banned in favor of a Soviet-style replacement, as well as EU flags.
At one point, a trolley bus went by with a young man riding on the roof. He pumped his fist in a victory sign, and the crowd roared when he rode off carrying a national flag someone thrust into his hands.
UPDATE: 1:20GMT, 17:20PT; BBC on the ground in Minsk signals a lack of support for opposition... support for authoritarian leader Lukashenko stronger than earlier supposed..
Mr Milinkevich earlier said that he thought he could win the election if votes were counted honestly.
But our correspondent says that despite his authoritarian regime Mr Lukashenko has genuine popular support.
Opinion polls were rare during the election campaign, but those taken suggested Mr Lukashenko would win the first round even in a fair vote.
UPDATE: 3:20GMT, 19:20PT; No Sign of Escalation in
Minsk Protest
The police presence at the demonstration has so far has been low key, our correspondent says, although buses of security service men are not far away.
Police have said that protesters "trying to destabilise the situation" will be treated as terrorists and could face the death penalty.
A spokesman for the Helsinki Committee, a human rights organisation, told the BBC the Belarussian government's threats to opposition groups could trigger violence.
"We've had similar statements during previous elections... This one is stronger and maybe it's a sign that we should expect violence during Sunday evening," Dzmitry Markusheuski said.
and further signs of tracking back on the BBC..
Officials in the ex-Soviet republic have accused foreign countries of backing opposition candidates in the election and a number of foreign monitors and journalists were denied entry to watch the vote.
A final preliminary vote tally from CNN:
The president won a third term with 82.6 percent of the vote according to final preliminary results, Central Election Commission chief Lidiya Yermoshina said early Monday.
Main opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich, who declared the vote a farce and called for a a new election at a rally that drew thousands of supporters, received 6 percent of the vote, Yermoshina said.
UPDATE 5:30GMT, 21:30PT; Opposition calls for continued street protest Monday:
The opposition are now urging their supporters to take to the streets again on Monday evening but it is not clear if President Lukashenko will let them protest for a second night.
There has been no evidence so far of any Ukrainian-style Orange Revolution, our correspondent adds.
UPDATE, 3/20, 12:00GMT 6:00PT; European monitors call vote rigged, Opposition seeks election re-run:
European election monitors have said the re-election of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was flawed and failed to meet international standards. An EU commissioner said it was "very likely" the EU would impose sanctions.
Mr Lukashenko - branded "Europe's last dictator" by the US - said the vote was fair and denounced "foreign pressure".
The main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, called for a re-run, and for street protests against an "illegal, illegitimate president".
and
The opposition is urging supporters to take to the streets again on Monday evening but it was not clear if Mr Lukashenko would let them protest for a second night...
Mr Milinkevich - who election officials said received 6% of the vote - called for continuing demonstrations.
"In Belarus, we did not have an election but an unconstitutional seizure of power," he said in a news conference broadcast across Belarus.
"I very much ask all to come out into the square today, in as large numbers as possible. I believe that Belarussians have awakened, overcome fear and can stand up for their future."
UPDATE 3/21, 17:00GMT, 9:00PT; Opposition numbers 150 camped out, four leaders arrested,
BBC:
The opposition in Belarus says four leading activists have been arrested by police in Minsk during a protest against the election result.
Opposition supporters defied police and braved sub-zero temperatures overnight, camping out in a central square. The crowd now numbers about 150.
The protesters accused President Alexander Lukashenko of rigging the vote and demanded a fresh election.
From CNN:
At least 500 protesters, most of them young people, rallied to Milinkevich's call for fresh elections and camped in tents on October Square overnight in an action reminiscent of the highly-organized 2004 "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine.
"I came here to support these young people. In previous years I was marching under the red flags and I think it was wrong. That's why I am here. I want my grandchildren to be proud of me," 66-year-old pensioner Pavel Rusetsky said.
A 34-year-old taxi driver, who would give only his first name of Dima, brought tea and blankets to those demonstrating despite freezing weather and snow.
"Lukashenko has re-elected himself as always. These are courageous people and I want to help them," he said.