More than 1,000 people, many of them students, gathered in central Minsk tonight to protest against the referendum
Published:
19 October 2004 y., Tuesday
More than 1,000 people, many of them students, gathered in central Minsk tonight to protest against the referendum called by Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to extend his staying in power.
Protestors chanted "Shame!" and "Fascists!"
Police and protesters clashed briefly and several demonstrators were reportedly detained.
Official figures showed Lukashenka won the support of nearly 80 percent of registered voters for a proposal to lift a constitutional rule limiting him to two terms in power.
In the parliamentary vote, the beleaguered liberal opposition failed to win a single seat in the 110-member lower house. The head of the monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Tone Tingsgaard, said the "vote fell significantly short of [international] standards."
The U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also echoed doubts expressed by the OSCE.
Russia was more supportive of the vote, saying monitors from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had found no serious law violations.
Šaltinis:
rferl.org
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Getting on their glad rags, pensioners in the India capital New Delhi stepped out on to the to strut their stuff.
more »
Attempt to reach agreement over the working time directive - which limits workers to 48 hours including overtime - broke down late Monday night (27 April) as MEPs and EU Ministers failed to agree.
more »
She has only been on the job for 100 days, but First Lady Michelle Obama has managed to dazzle the public.
more »
Across Europe the amount of time new mums can have off after the birth of their child varies from 14 to 52 weeks.
more »
The note was written by prisoners at the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp during World War Two and stuffed into a bottle.
more »
Spectators at a Kentucky race course were left shocked after an horrific crash involving a rider-less horse.
more »
As a family in Mexico mourned the death of the latest suspected victim of the swine flu, the deadly virus pushed its way into New Zealand and Israel.
more »
For the seventh time in a row spring will not be only a season of blossoming flowers but also a time when students all over the world can get to know more about the European Union.
more »
Traditional Hungarian herdsmen don the clothes of an age gone by as they mark the start of the summer season by parading their flocks.
more »
The jobless rate is rising faster among the young, underscoring the need for a new long-term strategy to address their plight.
more »