Poland has joined the EU and US in denouncing the violence which erupted in Belarus last weekend following the reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko.

“The Foreign Ministry condemns mass beatings and detainments of demonstrators on the streets of Minsk. The brutality of the security forces is unacceptable,” Poland's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Over 20,000 people gathered on the streets of Minsk to protest Mr Lukashenko’s victory in what they called a rigged election. After a small group of protestors attempted to storm the parliament building, the entire demonstration was violently dispersed by riot police.

During the violence that ensued, seven of the nine opposition candidates, 500 demonstrators, opposition activists, human rights workers and journalists were detained by police, according to Amnesty International.

“Cases of severe beatings of opposition presidential candidates … raise particular concern. We call for the violence to stop, for those detained to be released immediately, and for cases of beatings of demonstrators, politicians and journalist, including foreign ones, to be explained,” the Polish Foreign Ministry said in its statement.

The Belarusian Minister of Internal Affairs Anatoly Kuleshov has said that these people were detained for having organized an unauthorized meeting and could face jail time of up to 15 years.

Alexander Lukashenko, often described as Europe’s last dictator, won a fourth successive term with a 79.67 percent of the vote. According to Belarus’ Central Election Commission, turnout stood at a whopping 90.66 percent.