TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2020) The protests and violence that postdated the Belarusian presidential election further eroded the legitimacy of the vote, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement on Monday.
"Canada is deeply concerned by the actions of Belarusian authorities following yesterday's presidential elections, which have reportedly left at least one person dead, seen many arrested and further eroded the democratic legitimacy of the vote," Champagne said.
Canada's top diplomat urged the Belarusian government to show restraint and vowed to closely monitor the situation.
Mass protests erupted in a number of cities in Belarus after incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko secured his sixth term in office.
Protesters in the center of Minsk erected barricades from garbage cans, prompting police to use tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades to disperse them. Several protesters have been reported to be injured and taken to a hospital.
Earlier on Monday, Lukashenko said that Belarusian police did not act violently while suppressing the recent rallies, but they were forced to use rubber bullets once. The President added that Belarus' opposition deployed up to 300 people to the country's south, where there was an attempt to overthrow local authorities.
Belarusian opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya does not recognize the election results announced by the Belarusian Central Election Commission, her campaign office told Sputnik earlier on Monday.
According to preliminary results, Lukashenko won 80.23 percent of the vote, followed by Tikhanovskaya who won 9.9 percent of the vote.
