Thousands of women in in Belarus protest against Lukashenko

Thousands of women marched through capital of Belarus on Saturday, calling for resignation of authoritarian president, and university students demonstrated against detention of classmates during wave of protests gripping country for four weeks.

For first time in demonstrations, supporters of LGBT rights appeared with rainbow flags in women's march in Minsk, an indication that opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko are becoming bolder.

“LGBT people are calling for freedom. We are tired of living in a dictatorship where we simply didn't exist,” Anna Bredova, one of rainbow flag bearers, told Associated Press by phone.

Although same-sex activity was legalized in Belarus in 1994, stigmatization of it is strong. Authorities haven't allowed any LGBT organization legal registry.

About 5,000 women took part in march, according to human rights organization Viasna. Police followed march, but detentions were reported.

Marches and demonstrations by women have become a frequent feature of protests, which broke out Aug. 9 after election in which Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, was officially tallied with an 80% landslide victory.

Protests took place after some previous elections that Lukashenko won with lopsided margins, but this year's have been by far largest and longest-lasting. Sunday protests have been especially large, bringing crowds estimated at well over 100,000 people.

Earlier in day, hundreds of students formed human chains to demonstrate against detention of students at State Linguistics University. Viasna said about 20 of students were detained Saturday.

Lukashe opponents have formed a Coordination Council to drive protests and push for a transition of power. On Saturday, council reported that one of its prominent members, Olga Kovalkova, h left country for Poland after being released from jail where she was serving a sentence for organizing protests.

Sviatlana Tsikhauskaya, Lukashenko's main challenger in election, fled to Lithuania day after vote.

On Friday, she dressed U.N. Security Council via video link, asking it to “stop blatant human rights violations and cynical disregard for human dignity right in middle of Europe.”

She accused Lukashenko of stealing election and asked U.N. to condemn crackdown on protesters, send a monitoring mission to Belarus and call a special session of its Human Rights Council to discuss situation in country.

Authorities also have revoked accreditation of many Belarusian journalists and deported some foreign journalists, including two Moscow-based Associated Press journalists. AP’s Belarusian journalists were among those told ir press credentials h been revoked.