Belarus detentions resume as opposition pushes for new vote

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Authorities in Belarus on Wednesday resumed detentions of protesters who keep taking to the streets to demand the resignation of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, as opposition leaders ratchet up pressure on the government by forming a coordination council to push for for a new election.

Several dozen people were detained in front of the Minsk Tractor Factory, where workers have been on strike since Monday, Sergei Dylevsky, leader of the factory’s strike committee, told The Associated Press. The country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that police detained only two protesters and pushed the remaining crowd aside.

The new detentions come after days of peaceful protests, which police didn't interfere with. They also came hours before the first meeting of the opposition’s coordination council, which was formed to facilitate peaceful transition of power and denounced by Lukashenko as “an attempt to seize power” in the country.

Lukashenko, who last week won his six term in office with 80% of votes in an election widely seen as rigged, blasted the opposition again on Wednesday for creating “alternative (government) bodies” and warned them they may be prosecuted for it.

“If someone thinks that the government bent down and teetered, you’re mistaken,” Lukashenko said at a meeting with security officials. “We will not waver.”

Earlier this week, opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called on European leaders not to recognize “fraudulent elections” that extended Lukashenko’s rule.

“I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all the legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world,” Tsikhanouskaya said in a video statement. A former English teacher who united fractured opposition groups and drew tens...