Belarus election: UK refuses to recognise result and demands international investigation into 'grisly repression' of protests

The British government does not recognise the result of Belarus's contested presidential election, the Foreign Secretary has said.

Dominic Raab called for an international investigation into the "grisly repression" of protesters by state security forces controlled by Alexander Lukashenko and branded the contest "fraudulent".

Mr Lukashenko has rejected any possibility of re-running the poll that gave him his sixth presidential term since 1994, despite widespread demonstrations against the result.

Lashing out at the West, the president declared his country would "perish as a state" if the election was held again.

Commenting on the result on Monday morning, Mr Raab said: "The world has watched with horror at the violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that followed this fraudulent presidential election.

"The UK does not accept the results. We urgently need an independent investigation through the OSCE into the flaws that rendered the election unfair, as well as the grisly repression that followed.

"The UK will work with our international partners to sanction those responsible, and hold the Belarusian authorities to account."

State television staff in the eastern European country were the latest to walk out on strike in protest at the result and censorship of their coverage.

But Mr Lukashenko remained defiant this morning, amid reports that some 6,700 people have been arrested in the wake of the election.

Over the weekend an opposition rally in the capital Minsk drew tens of thousands of people, described as the largest in the country's history. A presidential rally appeared to draw significantly lower numbers.