Prime Minister criticises violent dispersion of protesters in Minsk

Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has criticised the violent police action against protesters in the Belarusian capital Minsk. Opposition representatives and their supporters had been staging demonstrations since Alexander Lukashenko won another term as president in a vote last weekend that is widely believed to have been rigged. Numerous demonstrators are reported injured and hundreds have been jailed. Mr Paroubek says this a sign that Mr Lukashenko fears democracy and free speech.

The Czech Foreign Ministry also hopes to support the Belarusian protesters with various aid projects while the government is expected to discuss the granting of study stays to Belarusian students who have been thrown out of their universities as a result of their opposition to the Lukashenko regime.