Protests Expected In Belarus As Opposition Deadline Reached

Rallies are expected to take place in Belarus against strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka on October 25, the end of a deadline set by the opposition for him to step down or face a nationwide strike.

The Interior Ministry issued an advance warning that people should not attend demonstrations for which no permit has been issued.

Belarus has been rocked by protests since Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the winner of the August 9 presidential election amid allegations of widespread vote rigging.

On October 24, several hundred women marched across the capital, Minsk, in heavy rain to demand the resignation of Lukashenka.

Smaller anti-government demonstrations were also held in several other cities.

The opposition says the results of the August vote were fraudulent, and that activist Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya was in fact the legitimate winner. She left Belarus for Lithuania shortly after the election amid threats to her and her family.

Lukashenka sought to immediately squash the protest movement as he had in the past with harassment, arrests, and police brutality.

More than 12,000 Belarusians have been detained and hundreds tortured during protests over the ensuing weeks.

The EU and United States have refused to recognize Lukashenka, who held an abrupt inauguration ceremony last month, as the legitimate ruler of Belarus.

With reporting by dpa and AP