UPDATE 1155 GMT: Aleksandr Klaskovsky, the "hero policeman" who urged fellow police not to beat demonstrators on Sunday, has now repented for his "idiotic" actions.
Klaskovsky is the son of the prominent journalist and political analyst by the same name.
UPDATE 1350 GMT: Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have declared that, although some specific improvements were made, the election showed that Belarus still has a considerable way to go in meeting its commitments.
Tony Lloyd, the head of the short-term observer missio, said, "This election failed to give Belarus the new start it needed. The counting process lacked transparency. The people of Belarus deserved better. And, in particular, I now expect the Government to account for the arrests of presidential candidates, journalists and human rights activists."
Yeah, yeah, but will Belarus get the $4 billion in aid promised by the European Union if the elections were "free and fair"?
UPDATE 1000 GMT: The Belarus Central Election Commission HAS said preliminary results show President Aleksandr Lukashenko with 79.67% of the vote. The next-highest total for any of the nine challengers is 2.56%.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 6:35