Protesters say the Aug. 9 election was rigged to hand Lukashenko a phoney landslide win and that Tsikhanouskaya - who has since fled to Lithuania - was the real winner. Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, denies this and has said foreign powers are behind the protests. At least 5,000 protesters, many of them women, gathered in central Minsk on Saturday, chanting "Go away!" She is now detained in Minsk, and faces a potential long prison term over accusations of trying to seize power illegally. He is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi to discuss "energy cooperation and two countries' strategic partnership", the Kremlin has said.

Source: The Star September 12, 2020 12:42 UTC