Protests In Belarus Enter Fourth Day

Several hundred protesters spent another night in a central square in Minsk to press their demand for a repeat of the March 19 election.

Authorities say Lukashenka won with more than 82 percent of the vote, but the opposition, backed by the United States and the EU, says the election was rigged.

Police have not moved in to disperse the protesters but continued harassing and detaining some of them. RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported that some protesters were beaten up by police as they tried to briefly leave October (Kastrychnitskaya) Square.

Alyaksandr Milinkevich, Lukashenka's main opposition challenger in the election, on March 21 accused the police of using unfair tactics.

"Those cowards are afraid to come here [on the square] to arrest us, although they have no right to arrest us," he said. "Therefore, they're trying to lure people [out of the square] and twist their arms around the corner. Then they bring charges against them."

Milinkevich has urged supporters to join a March 25 rally to mark the independence day of the short-lived Belarusian Democratic Republic that was proclaimed during World War I.

(with additional material from AFP, Reuters, and AP)