Organisers of Sunday's parliamentary elections in Belarus say turnout reached 75 per cent. Seventy opposition candidates were in the running, in contrast to the last election four years ago when they were not allowed to stand.
Hundreds of opposition protesters gathered in the centre of the capital Minsk, claiming the vote was rigged. President Aleksandr Lukashenko, however, has promised the ballot would meet international guidelines with around 400 European observers monitoring the election. They're due to release their findings later on Monday. The election involved 263 candidates competing for 110 parliamentary seats.