For the ninth Sunday in a row, over 100,000 people have marched in Belarus demanding the resignation of Alexander Lukashenko

More than 100,000 people have marched in Minsk, Belarus' capital, for the ninth straight Sunday to protest against the country's authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who won his sixth term in office in an election widely considered as rigged.

The unprecedented wave of unrest was triggered by the results of the August 9 presidential election that handed Lukashenko, who has run Belarus with an iron fist for 26 years, a crushing victory with 80% of the vote. His main challenger, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, got only 10%, but has refused to recognise the election as valid.

Local human rights organisations report that more than 10,000 people have been detained since the election and at least 244 people have been implicated in criminal cases on various charges related to the protests.

Over 70 people have been declared political prisoners.

Opposition leader Tikhanovskaya will meet German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin this week, and will reportedly ask for her support in putting pressure on Lukashenko to step aside. Tikhanovskaya is currently in exile in Lithuania.