Scores arrested in protests against authoritarian president of Belarus

KYIV, Ukraine — Hundreds of women calling for the authoritarian president to step down protested in Belarus’ capital Saturday, continuing the large demonstrations that have rocked the country since early August.

Police blocked off the center of Minsk and arrested more than 80 demonstrators, according to the Viasna human rights organization. Some of those arrested were chased down by police in building courtyards where they were trying to take refuge, Viasna said.

Protests, by far the largest and most persistent in Belarus since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, began Aug. 9 after an election that officials said gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office.

Opponents and some poll workers say the results, in which Lukashenko was tallied with 80 percent support, were manipulated.

Despite wide-scale detentions of demonstrators and the arrest of many prominent opposition figures, the protests haven’t shown signs of abating. Lukashenko further angered opponents this week by taking the oath of office for a new term in an unexpected ceremony.

Protesters carried placards denouncing him as “the secret president” Saturday.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko’s main election opponent who went into exile in Lithuania after the vote, praised the female demonstrators and derided the police in a statement.