MINSK, August 12. /TASS/. Former Belarusian Ambassador to Slovakia Igor Leshchenya has been detained as part of an investigation of a criminal case launched over mass riots in the Belarusian capital Minsk, Yekaterina Garlinskaya, spokesperson for the Minsk department of the Investigative Committee, told TASS on Thursday.

"Investigators are probing information about Igor Leshchenya’s involvement in actions grossly violating public order," Yekaterina Garlinskaya said.

"At the moment, investigative actions are in progress with the detained person," she said. After the August 9, 2020, presidential election in Belarus and the ensuing protests, the former ambassador denounced the harsh actions by law enforcement officers towards participants in the protests. By the decision of President Alexander Lukashenko, Leshchenya was stripped of his diplomatic rank for "committing acts discrediting the state (diplomatic) service".

Nationwide demonstrations engulfed Belarus following the presidential election held on August 9, 2020. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police.