UK does not accept "fraudulent" presidential election in Belarus, Dominic Raab says
17 August 2020, 08:44
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK does not accept the results of the "fraudulent" presidential election in Belarus following days of protests against the government of Alexander Lukashenko.
He called for an independent investigation by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Belarus over the weekend calling for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to resign after 26 years in power.
It follows a week of large protests against the results of the August 9 presidential election in which election officials say Mr Lukashenko won a sixth term in office.
Opposition supporters believe the figures have been manipulated.
Mr Raab said: "The world has watched with horror at the violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that followed this fraudulent presidential election.
"The UK does not accept the results. We urgently need an independent investigation through the OSCE into the flaws that rendered the election unfair, as well as the grisly repression that followed.
"The UK will work with our international partners to sanction those responsible, and hold the Belarusian authorities to account."
