The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, who was called “the last dictator in Europe”, was re -elected 86.8 % of the votes.
The result was condemned as a trick by Lukashenko opponents and Western governments.
There were four other names in the polling – carefully chosen to provide any challenge to the current leadership – and no reliable competitors were allowed to participate in the elections, as all opposition figures are either in prison or exile abroad.
At a four and a half hours press conference on Sunday evening, Steve Rosenberg, the editor -in -chief of Russia in the BBC, asked questions about democracy and political prisoners.
