First Secretary of State Dominic Raab delivers a speech on the
first day of the annual Conservative Party conference at the
Manchester Central convention complex in Manchester, north-west
England on September 29, 2019. Paul ELLIS / AFP.
The UK said Monday it did not recognise the “fraudulent” Belarus
presidential vote which saw Alexander Lukashenko re-elected and
denounced the “grisly repression” of unprecedented protests over
the result.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab also threatened sanctions against
those responsible and called for an independent international
probe.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, claimed victory
in the August 9 election with 80 percent of the vote, despite wide
opposition to his rule.
“The world has watched with horror at the violence used by the
Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that
followed this fraudulent presidential election. The UK does not
accept the results,” Raab said.
He said any investigation into the election should be carried
out by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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“The UK will work with our international partners to sanction
those responsible, and hold the Belarusian authorities to account,”
said Raab.
London’s statement follows a weekend of protests against the
official election result in the Belarus capital, Minsk.
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters gathered for a huge
protest rally against Lukashenko on Sunday, described by one news
website as the largest in the history of Belarus.
Since the result was announced there has been a violent police
crackdown which has seen more than 6,700 people arrested, hundreds
wounded and two people dead.
There have also been widespread strikes.
On Monday, the main challenger to Lukashenko, Svetlana
Tikhanovskaya, said she was ready to take over the country’s
leadership in a video posted from exile in Lithuania, where she
fled in the immediate aftermath of the election.
AFP
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/08/17/uk-rejects-fraudulent-belarus-vote-warns-of-sanctions/