Students detained in Belarus during protest against President Lukashenko
Students detained in Belarus during protest against President Lukashenko

Authorities in Belarus detained scores of university students who took to the streets Tuesday to demand that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko resign after an election the opposition has denounced as rigged.

Hundreds of students gathered outside universities across the Belarusian capital, Minsk, and then marched across the city centre to the Education Ministry, continuing a fourth straight week of mass post-election protests. The demonstrators chanted for Lukashenko to “Go away!” and held banners demanding freedom for political prisoners.

Police cordons forced the demonstrators to change their route, and they detained dozens of them, according to the Viasna human rights centre. Viasna’s Valiantsin Stefanovich said that some of the detainees were beaten by police, foreign media said.