Belarus election: Lukashenko re-elected as president

They say he secured nearly 84% of the vote in Sunday's election. None of three other candidates achieved more than 5%. The turnout was 86.75%.

Mr Lukashenko, 61, has governed the former Soviet republic almost unchallenged for 21 years.

No veteran opposition leaders stood as they were not allowed to register.

They said that the vote would not be free or fair.

Dozens of opposition supporters held a protest march in the capital Minsk after the polls closed.

They carried slogans that read "Boycott the dictatorship!" and "Lukashenko - go!"

Earlier on Sunday, Belarusian TV showed Mr Lukashenko casting his vote at one of the polling stations, as his youngest son Nikolai stood by. Nikolai has accompanied his father on numerous public occasions in recent years.

Critics have accused the president and his supporters of preventing the main opposition parties from building any public profile and restricting their access to the all-powerful state-owned media.

This year's Nobel Literature Prize laureate, Svetlana Alexievich, has warned that her country is a "soft dictatorship".

She said Mr Lukashenko was a man connected to the Soviet era and was untrustworthy. None of her books is published in Belarus.

US officials have described Mr Lukashenko as "Europe's last dictator".

However, there have recently been signals - including the pardoning of six opposition leaders - that suggest Mr Lukashenko is seeking to improve relations with the West.

(BBC)