Belarus: huge opposition demonstration in Minsk

Tens of thousands of Belarusian opposition supporters gathered for the largest protest rally in recent history in Minsk on Sunday as President Alexander Lukashenko rejected calls to step down in a defiant speech. Crowds of protesters marched through the streets to the central Independence Square, estimating the turnout at more than 1,000,000, a scale of protest not seen since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Popular opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya had called for a weekend of protests after leaving for neighbouring Lithuania following the disputed election, which gave Lukashenko 80 percent of the vote. Other major towns and cities in the ex-Soviet country of 9 million also saw large rallies. More and more Belarusians have taken to the streets over the last week to condemn Lukashenko's disputed victory and a subsequent violent crackdown by riot police and abuse of detainees.