MINSK, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - Belarusian police surrounded an unsanctioned political opposition rally in central Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and divided protesters into two groups Saturday.
A large-scale protest rally by Belarusian opposition supporters numbering about 1,000-1,500 people came to the Oktyabrskaya Square in downtown Minsk, which had been blocked by the police since early morning.
The protesters tried to break through the police cordon and clashed with law enforcers in some cases, but were pulled back.
On Friday Alexander Milinkevich, who lost to incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko in the recent presidential elections, said the rally would be peaceful and that there would be no clashes with police.
March 25 is popularly known as Freedom Day, an unofficial holiday marking Belarus' declaration of independence in 1918 and a traditional day for opposition demonstrations.
Belarusian police previously broke up early Friday morning a five-day protest in central Minsk by opponents of Lukashenko.
The Central Election Committee announced Thursday the final results of Sunday's elections, which were won by incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko with 83% of the vote, while Milinkevich garnered 6.1%. Election turnout was 92.9%, or more than 6.6 million people.
Opposition candidates denounced the elections as neither free nor fair, and called for a re-run. Thousands of demonstrators came onto the streets to protest Monday, but numbers dwindled in the face of freezing temperatures.
