text: MINSK, Belarus (AP) — President Alexander Lukashenko was expected to win a fifth term in Sunday's election with ease, but he said anything much less than 80 percent of the vote would be a sign that his support was slipping. 
   
   An elderly woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in the village of Smilovichi, 48 km (30 miles) east of Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential election... (Associated Press) 
   
   Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with his youngest son Nikolai casts his ballot at a polling station, during the presidential election, in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential... (Associated Press) 
   
   A Belarusian woman with her son casts a ballot at a polling station during presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) (Associated Press) 
   
   Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with his youngest son Nikolai casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential... (Associated Press) 
   
   Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko smiles at a polling station after voting during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential election was under way Sunday... (Associated Press) 
   
   Belarusian army soldiers examine a candidates list with a portrait of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a polling station during presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
   
   Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, bows to observers as he arrives at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential election... (Associated Press) 
   
   The authoritarian leader faced no serious competition in the election, which was boycotted by the opposition. 
   
   Even before polls opened in the former Soviet republic, the Central Election Commission announced that 36 percent of the 7 million registered voters had cast their ballots during five days of early voting. By 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) on election day, the official turnout was nearly 75 percent, even though many polling stations in the capital and nearby villages were nearly empty. 
   
   Opposition leaders denounced the early voting as an ideal instrument for falsifying the result. International observers also raised concerns. 
   
   "It is very unusual for us to find that a country has an election so many days," James Walsh, who heads the delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, told The Associated Press. "Most democracies have a challenge in getting its citizens ... to come out and vote." 
   
   Walsh said the observers have questions about the security of the ballot boxes, a concern also raised by the opposition. 
   
   "For five nights, no one was guarding the ballot boxes and the authorities could do anything they liked with them," said Anatoly Lebedko, the leader of the opposition United Civil Party. 
   
   Lukashenko said it would be a bad sign if he received fewer votes than during the last election in 2010, when he won 79.65 percent. 
   
   "That would mean that people were beginning to move away and were dissatisfied with some of my policies," the president said after voting in Minsk, the Belarusian capital. "Therefore for me it is very important: If Lukashenko wins, that I retain what was there in the past election." 
   
   Lukashenko, 61, appeared at the polling station with his 11-year-old son, Nikolai, who was wearing the same suit and tie as his father. 
   
   An independent institute of socio-economic and political research put Lukashenko's support at about 46 percent in September, while the official state sociology institute tallied his support at 76 percent. 
   
   Lukashenko faced three nominal rivals in the election: the leaders of two pro-government parties, Sergei Gaidukevich and Nikolai Ulakhovich, and little known opposition activist Tatyana Korotkevich. Prominent opposition figures either were barred from running or decided against trying to get on the ballot for an election they considered a farce. 
   
   During his 21 years of rule, Lukashenko has cracked down on dissent while cultivating an image of a strong leader capable of guaranteeing order and stability. 
   
   "Oh, life has become harder, but Lukashenko promises stability and peace," said 68-year-old Tamara Krylovich after voting in Minsk. "Look at what democracy brought in Ukraine — war and poverty." 
   
   Lukashenko has largely preserved the state-controlled Soviet type of economy, albeit with the help of cheap Russian gas and Western loans. The unreformed economy may be sputtering, but it still puts bread on the tables of pensioners and workers at unprofitable state factories. 
   
   But Anton Gurevich, a 41-year-old automobile factory worker, said it was time for a change. 
   
   "I have lived half of my life with Lukashenko, but life has not gotten better," he said. "After all, the leadership should change, there should be changes." 
   
   Lukashenko said he was prepared to introduce economic reforms if the Belarusian people were prepared for the difficulties they would bring. 
   
   "If you give me carte blanche for any destruction and any revolutionary transformations, if that is what you want, then for God's sake we will do it," he said. "The issue is not me, the issue is society." 
   
   Lukashenko had allowed opposition candidates to run in past presidential elections, although none of the votes was recognized in the West as free or fair. 
   
   In 2010, most of the candidates who opposed him were arrested soon after the polls closed. Police also detained hundreds of opposition supporters while violently dispersing an election night protest that drew tens of thousands onto the street. 
   
   One of the former candidates, Nikolai Statkevich, spent nearly five years in prison until Lukashenko unexpectedly pardoned him in August along with all five other remaining political prisoners. Their release was seen as an effort to improve relations with the West, which imposed sanctions on Belarus in response to the crackdown on dissent. 
   
   On Friday, a European Union official said the EU may suspend its sanctions on Belarus. 
   
   The opposition has called on its supporters to join a protest after polls close on Sunday night. The protest was expected to be relatively small and to be allowed to proceed peacefully. Police didn't interfere with an opposition demonstration on Saturday involving about 1,000 protesters. ||||| There are many dictators around the world who are well-known for their oppressive ruling of countries, such as Kim Jong Un. But there are many others that operate under the radar of the world media. They may not have a direct connection to the West or have a nuclear arsenal at their disposal, but their despotic actions need to be known. So we’ve decided to put together a list of the worst of the worst. Six rulers who have been profiled on OZY and are among the cruelest, most corrupt despots around today. They may hail from countries as different as Eritrea and Laos, but what they share is a shocking disregard for human rights and seemingly unfettered power to persecute their own. 
   
   You may not recognize the name, but this 77-year-old ruler of Uzbekistan has one of the most abysmal human rights records in the world today. For 24 years running, the Central Asian nation near the Caspian Sea has been terrorized by its own leader, who has killed thousands of unarmed protesters, forced children to work in slavelike conditions and imprisoned thousands for their religious beliefs. Karimov has even executed prisoners without a trial, according to our reporting, including boiling a couple to death. Read more here. 
   
   Since taking over Gambia in a 1994 coup, President Jammeh — or “His Excellency,” as he prefers to be called — has ruled the country with a lethal mix of fear, repression and murder. He’s been know to fire into crowds of peaceful protesters, has imprisoned people for suspected witchcraft and, at one depressive point, demanded homosexual persons leave the country within 24 hours or face the possibility of being beheaded. Read more here. 
   
   This 69-year-old has been the president of Eritrea since its 1991 independence, and yet not a single citizen has ever voted for him. And why would they? It’s been 24 years of crushing despotism, where torture is routine, prisons are overstuffed and everyone from the age of 15 to 70 is forced into indefinite military service. Not only that, but Afwerki’s administration has reportedly imprisoned thousands of people based on their political affiliations. Read more here. 
   
   This guy is far from being a noble individual. Mswati has used his concentrated power in Swaziland, the last absolute monarchy in Africa, to feed his every despotic need. For one, he is reported to force young women to marry him whenever the spirit moves him (or about every two years), because polygamy is, no surprise, legal in Swaziland. He’s also not really interested in democracy or feeding the poor or finding jobs for the 23 percent of the population that is currently unemployed. This despot, who became king at 18, has a total of 15 wives and an indefinite number of luxury cars. He may cut a cartoonish figure, but his corrupt ways are no laughing matter. Read more here. 
   
   Condoleezza Rice has called him “Europe’s last dictator,” and he’s playing his role to the hilt. President of Belarus for more than two decades, Lukashenko has ruled the former Soviet state with an iron fist that would make the Kremlin proud. He censors the press, sends human rights activists to labor camps and gets rid of political rivals, either by throwing them in jail or, in the case of his former prime minister and head of the opposition, making them disappear. Read more here. 
   
   The president of Laos may be 79 years old, wear spectacles and have thinning hair, but his mild appearance masks a tyrannical personality. Boasting a record of human rights violations as long as the Mekong River traversing this Southeast Asian country, Sayasone’s government owns all newspapers, TV stations and radio stations, effectively snuffing all free expression. And if anyone manages to rise above these restrictions, they’re bound to be imprisoned or even disappear. Read more here.
target: – Kim Jong Un is a terrible, murderous despot, but he's not the only Dr. Evil on the block. Ozy runs through some of the equally ruthless dictators who you've likely never heard of: Alexander Lukashenko: The Belarusian president Condi Rice once called "Europe's last dictator" just got a fifth term in an election that was basically uncontested, reports the AP. Among his charms: A penchant for sending his foes to labor camps, or just making them disappear. King Mswati III: Swaziland's ruler presides over Africa's lone remaining absolute monarchy, and uses his power to marry young girls (15 wives to date) while not doing much in the way of actual ruling (unemployment sits at 23%). Isaias Afwerki: The Eritrean president of 24 years is into torture, imprisoning political foes, and indefinite compulsory military service. Yahya Jammeh: Gambia's president seized power in 1994, and has since fired at peaceful crowds of protesters, tossed suspected witches in jail, and once demanded all gay people leave within 24 hours on threat of being beheaded. For the full list, which includes a mild-mannered 79-year-old who enforces state-sanctioned abductions, head over to Ozy.