Britain and Canada have imposed sanctions targeting the regime of Belarus' dictator president, Alexander Lukashenko, following his disputed election over the weekend to a seventh term.

Britain on Monday imposed sanctions targeting Belarusian officials and defence companies after joining Western governments in condemning what they called "sham" presidential elections in the country.

Britain’s foreign office on Monday said it had sanctioned six Belarus individuals and three defence sector firms, a day after a “sham election” in which autocrat Alexander Lukashenko won a seventh ter

No credible opponents were allowed to run against Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since the 1990s.

Canada said on Monday it would impose sanctions on 10 individuals and 12 entities in Belarus, citing what it called "gross and systematic human rights violations" by Minsk. In a statement, the foreign ministry also condemned what it called Sunday's fraudulent presidential election.

On Monday, the British Foreign Office sanctioned a number of individuals and entities in Belarus in response to the presidential election. Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected for a seventh five-year term with a dictatorial score of over 87% of the vote,

By Ben Aris in Berlin Incumbent Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko swept to a landslide victory in Sunday’s presidential election taking 86.82% of votes, according to preliminary results said the Central Election Commission Chairman Igor Karpenko at a press conference on January 26.