Protesters gather near the Minsk Hero City Obelisk in Belarus on Aug. 16 to protest the results of last week's presidential election, which are widely seen as fraudulent.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belarus on Sunday in what appeared to be their largest demonstration yet against the widely-disputed reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Lukashenko, who has been labeled "Europe's last dictator," first took office in 1994 and staked his claim to a sixth term after declaring a landslide victory in the country's election last Sunday. Opponents immediately condemned the results as rigged, and a wide cross-section of citizens have been calling for change at protests every day since.
An especially massive crowd gathered in the capital of Minsk to participate in a "Freedom March" on Sunday. Many were dressed in red and white, the colors of the opposition.
Images and videos posted on social media captured the scale of the demonstrations in Minsk: Independence Square packed to the brim, with cheerful crowds waving the opposition flag.
There was no official count of the crowd size, though the sweeping demonstration appears to be the largest in the country's history. The Associated Press reported that as many as 200,000 people turned out in Minsk.
The protests dwarfed a pro-government rally held there earlier i
Protesters gather near the Minsk Hero City Obelisk in Belarus on Aug. 16 to protest the results of last week's presidential election, which are widely seen as fraudulent.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belarus on Sunday in what appeared to be their largest demonstration yet against the widely-disputed reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Lukashenko, who has been labeled "Europe's last dictator," first took office in 1994 and staked his claim to a sixth term after declaring a landslide victory in the country's election last Sunday. Opponents immediately condemned the results as rigged, and a wide cross-section of citizens have been calling for change at protests every day since.
An especially massive crowd gathered in the capital of Minsk to participate in a "Freedom March" on Sunday. Many were dressed in red and white, the colors of the opposition.
Images and videos posted on social media captured the scale of the demonstrations in Minsk: Independence Square packed to the brim, with cheerful crowds waving the opposition flag.
There was no official count of the crowd size, though the sweeping demonstration appears to be the largest in the country's history. The Associated Press reported that as many as 200,000 people turned out in Minsk.