Hundreds of Belarusian protesters gathered in Minsk on Wednesday evening, defying a new order from President Alexander Lukashenko to his police to clear the streets of the capital after a week and a half of rallies against his rule.

Holding an emergency summit on the crisis, the European Union rejected Lukashenko’s (photo, above) re-election in a disputed vote on Aug 9 and announced financial sanctions against officials the bloc blames for election fraud and the abuse of protesters.