Up to 4,000 anti-government protestors had gathered in central Minsk before the police assault. Pedestrians and bystanders at some locations showed support to the demonstrators, shouting "Fascists" as the police made arrests.
The US and the EU after the election announced plans to sanction the Lukashenko regime by closing some foreign bank accounts owned by Belarusian officials, and by widening a travel ban to Western countries by the Lukashenko entourage.
US President George Bush in a statement declared that he "stands by the Belarusian people ... in their fight for democracy."
Lukashenko has laughed off the sanction threats, saying he owns no foreign bank accounts, and that he and his subordinates have no particular interest in travelling to the US or the EU.
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