Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has been sworn in for a fourth term in office after winning last December’s election by a landslide.
Ambassadors from Western nations, who have criticised the poll as rigged and called for the release of opposition leaders and activists detained at post-election protests, boycotted the inauguration ceremony.
Belarus closed down a popular private radio station last week as part of a crackdown against opponents of president Lukashenko.
The move against the radio station, Avtoradio, follows the re-election of Mr Lukashenko on December 19th amid street protests by several opposition groups which riot police broke up. Four presidential candidates who ran against Mr Lukashenko are still being held after mass arrests.