Opposition leader on elex anniversary, protest

On the one-year anniversary of the vote that handed Belarus' authoritarian leader a sixth term in office and was denounced by the opposition and the West as rigged, opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya pledged to continue to fight for freedom.

Speaking to reporters in Vilnius on Monday, Lukashenko's top challenger Tsikhanouskaya said the wave of mass protests that followed the election "prove" that Belaruians want change.

Belarus was shaken by the protests, the largest of which drew up to 200,000 people.

Authorities responded with a crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police.

Leading opposition figures have been jailed or forced to leave the country.

"The cost of his (Lukashenko's) rule by violence is enormous", Tsikhanouskaya said.

Later in the day, Belarusians in Vilnius rallied together to mark the anniversary in Vilnius.

IMAGE: AP