Belarus: Police Beat Back Anti-Government Protest over Elections (Schwirtz)
Monday, December 20, 2010 at 6:25
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%.