Belarus protesters demand fair elections, freedom

Thousands of people in Belarus have been taking to the streets daily since August 9 to protest against the recent Presidential elections they say are fraudulent.

From students to pensioners, Belarusians were frustrated with the official results that gave overwhelming victory to authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for 26 years.

Pensioner Tamara Tamilina has no doubts that the results were falsified.

She has been protesting against Lukashenko the year 2000 when he ran for his second presidential term.

After each demonstration, she collected dozens of stickers that she has put on her banner for this Sunday's protest.

One from 2006 is particularly special for her, as it reminds her of when her son was detained for protesting another Lukashenko election victory.

IT company director Yan Tamulyonok, has been going to the protests each day to demand fair elections and freedom of speech.

He believes the vote was rigged by the law-enforcement agencies and security services who then violently dispersed protests.

The 37 year old has prepared banners with a portrait of top opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and slogans calling for workers to continue strikes.

The labour action has presented a tough challenge for Lukashenko, who has relied on blue-collar workers as his core support base for decades.

He has warned that strikers could be fired and ordered law enforcement to protect factory managers from opposition pressure.

In an enormous show of defiance, an estimated 200,000 protesters rallied last Sunday in the capital Minsk.

22-year old student Arina Kutsukukho says she's happy to see a change in her fellow Belarusians as more and more people join the protests.

Like many of her friends she doesn't believe the official election results that gave Lukashenko 80% of the vote and would have taken to the streets if he had received significantly less.

Lukashenko's main election challenger, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has called for another march this Sunday.

"We are closer than ever to our dream," she said in a video message from Lithuania, where she took refuge after the election.