President of the parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) George Tsereteli urged the Belarusian authorities to immediately release all those detained without legal basis. About it on Thursday has informed a press-service of the organization.
"as the current state of the OSCE, Belarus has voluntarily agreed to certain obligations in the human dimension, including the right to peaceful Assembly, freedom of expression, freedom from unlawful arrest or detention and for effective measures of protection. I urge the authorities to ensure respect for these rights and freedoms, as well as the immediate release of those who were unlawfully detained in the last time" – presented in a press release the words of President Tsereteli, who also noted that the repression and harassment of political opponents are unacceptable and violate the principles of the OSCE.
In Belarus, August 9, presidential elections were held. According to preliminary data of the CEC, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko scored 80,08% of the vote. Svetlana Tikhanovski, which he called his main competitor, took second place, receiving of 10.09% of the vote. After the announcement of results of exit polls on the evening of 9 August in the center of Minsk and some other cities of the country began mass protests, which escalated into clashes with police. As a result, according to the interior Ministry, was detained several thousand people, injured dozens of guards and demonstrators.
