‘Don’t overdo it, Steve’: The BBC in testy exchange with Belarus president

Long-time leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, once dubbed “Europe’s last dictator”, has been re-elected president with 86.8% of the vote.

The result has been condemned as a sham by Lukashenko’s opponents and Western governments.

There were four other names on the ballot – carefully chosen to present no challenge to the current leadership – and no credible contenders were allowed to take part in the election, as all opposition figures are either in jail or in exile abroad.

In a mammoth four-and-a-half hour press conference, the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg asked questions about democracy and political prisoners.