A man gestures from a window on 23 December at a prison in Minsk, where arrested protesters were being held. AFP Photo/ Viktor Drachev
Alexander Lukashenka's brutal crackdown looks like another win for Moscow. John Besemeres traces the latest shift in orientation by the dictatorial president of Belarus. Even before the polls closed in Belarus's presidential election on 19 December, supporters of opposition candidates were planning their protests. Although the conduct of the campaign was remarkably liberal by recent standards, opponents of Alexander Lukashenka's regime confidently expected another rorted result, so no one was surprised when the president claimed an implausibly huge victory late on polling day. His return to authoritarian form was dramatically displayed when the government's security force ' the nostalgically named KGB - beat up protesters rallying in the centre of the national capital, Minsk. At least 640 people were arrested, including seven of the nine opposition candidates. The leading opposition candidate, Vladimir Neklyayev, was seized and bashed before he arrived at the demonstration, suffering severe concussion.
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