MINSK, Belarus — Several thousand people turned out for an anti-government rally in Minsk on Sunday to call for the freeing of political prisoners and for the country to become a democracy.

The protest rally was the largest since authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko won a fourth term in a December 2010 election and intensified his crackdown on the opposition.

"I want my children to live in a European, free Belarus. And that is stronger than the fear that paralyzes society," said 32-year-old Irina Lemesheva, who came with her husband and 7-year-old daughter.

(AP)