In the biggest confront to demanding leader Alexander Lukashenko in 16 years in power, thousands of demonstrators massed outside the main government office to protest supposed vote fraud in Sunday's presidential election, but club-swinging riot police troop them off and hammer many.
The brutal night left in doubt the next step for Belarus, which is of concentration to the Kremlin because of its place as a buffer between Russia and the West. The West, for its part, has been insulted by Lukashenko's harsh rule and his struggle to change.
Three of the candidates who ran against Lukashenko were under arrested and the top resistance leader, Vladimir Neklyayev, was powerfully taken from the hospital by mysterious men in civilian clothes, activists said.
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