Belarusian crackdown on political dissent

[MenInG]

Dominic Raab has said Britain does not accept the results of the "fraudulent" election in Belarus.

The UK's foreign secretary has called for an urgent investigation into the ballot's "serious flaws".

Mr Raab also condemned acts of violence by the Belarusian authorities to suppress peaceful protests following the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.

He said the government will work with international partners to sanction those responsible and hold the country's authorities to account.

"The world has watched with horror at the violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests that followed this fraudulent presidential election," Mr Raab tweeted on Monday.

"The UK does not accept the results."

The statement also said: "We urgently need an independent investigation through the OSCE into the flaws that rendered the election unfair, as well as the grisly repression that followed."

Mr Lukashenko said on Monday there will be no new presidential election despite calls from the opposition and nationwide anti-government protests.

"You should never expect me to do something under pressure," he was quoted as saying by the Belta news agency.

"They [new elections] won't happen."

He said work is under way on possible changes to the constitution that would redistribute power, Belta reported.

Earlier, Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she was ready to lead Belarus.

Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya calls for new elections and supports peaceful protests against Lukashenko

Speaking in a video address from Lithuania, she called for the creation of a legal mechanism to ensure that a new and fair presidential election could take place.

"I am ready to take responsibility and act as a national leader during this period," she said.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, 37, said it was essential to make the most of the momentum generated by a week of protests.

The former English teacher has become one of the leading opposition figures against Mr Lukashenko, who is facing the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule of the country amid a wave of mass protests and strikes.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya fled Belarus last week following the election results, claiming she had done so for the safety of her children, however she soon began releasing videos calling for anti-government protests to continue.

On Sunday, Belarusians chanted "Step down!" in the centre of the capital Minsk in one of the biggest protests so far against the strongman leader's re-election.

Opponents of the president say he rigged the 9 August election to secure a sixth term in power.

He denies this, however, and according to the official central election commission, the long-standing leader won 80% of the vote - a result rejected by the opposition.

Parts of society usually seen as loyal to the president have come out in support of the protesters, including some police, journalists from state media and a sitting ambassador, while workers from large state factories have staged walkouts.

Tens of thousands gather in unprecedented protests in Belarus.

The first high-ranking government official to side with protesters in Belarus said he expects to be sacked after likening state violence against them to the former Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.

Igor Leshchenya, the Belarusian ambassador to Slovakia, told Sky News he suspects many colleagues share his view but have not gone public for fear of the consequences.

Germany's president urged the military in Belarus not to use violence against protesters on Monday.

"I urge the Belarusian military not to sin against their own people by using force," said Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

https://news.sky.com/story/belarus-...-does-not-accept-results-of-election-12050864

 

[MenInG]

State TV staff in Belarus have walked out as part of strike action over the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.

TV channels ran repeats when staff walked out in protest against censorship and the election results.

Other strike action is expected after a weekend when an opposition rally in the capital Minsk drew tens of thousands.

Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has meanwhile suggested she could act as an interim leader.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53796436

 

[The Viper]

Belarus protests: Workers boo Lukashenko as election unrest spreads

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been heckled by workers on a visit to a factory as anger mounts over his disputed re-election.

Workers chanted "leave" and booed the long-time leader of the ex-Soviet state as he insisted he would not allow a new vote after allegations of ballot fraud.

Strike action spread to state TV, with staff walking out on Monday.

Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has suggested she could act as an interim leader.

Police violence towards opposition supporters, as well as the alleged poll-rigging in the 9 August vote, fuelled a big protest rally in the capital Minsk on Sunday.

Mr Lukashenko has led Belarus since 1994, maintaining close relations with neighbouring Russia, on which Belarus heavily relies for energy supplies

How great is the pressure on Lukashenko?

According to local, independent news site Tut.by, Sunday's opposition rally in Minsk was "the largest in the history of independent Belarus".

A wave of anger has been rising since the Central Election Commission said Mr Lukashenko had won 80.1% of the vote and Ms Tikhanovskaya - 10.12%.

Hundreds of protesters have been wounded and two have died in clashes with police over the past week. Some 6,700 people have been arrested, and many have spoken of torture at the hands of security forces.

On a visit to a Minsk tractor plant on Monday, Mr Lukashenko sought to defend his disputed victory, telling workers: "We held the election. Until you kill me, there will be no other election."

However he said he was willing to hold a referendum and "hand over my authority in accordance with the constitution - but not under pressure and not via street protests".

As Mr Lukashenko spoke at the factory, workers booed him and chanted "leave".

Also on Monday, the Minsk Philharmonic held a singing protest.

Last week, workers at state-run factories walked out in solidarity with the protesters, and more strikes are planned for this week, increasing the pressure on Mr Lukashenko.

At state TV, staff walked out in protest against censorship and the election results.

Ms Tikhanovskaya, who left for Lithuania after denouncing the results, insists that where votes were properly counted, she won support ranging from 60% to 70%.

In a video message released on Monday, she said she was ready to become a "national leader" in order to restore calm and normality, freeing political prisoners and preparing for new elections.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53796436

 

[MenInG]

European Union leaders will hold an emergency video conference about a deepening political crisis in Belarus, bloc officials have said, expressing support for a protest movement rallying against the disputed re-election of longtime President Alexander Lukashenko.

The EU has agreed to impose sanctions on Belarusian officials it deems responsible for alleged election fraud and a violent crackdown on mass protests that followed an August 9 vote in which the official count gave Lukashenko 80 percent of the vote. His opponents say the election was rigged.

"The people of Belarus have the right to decide on their future and freely elect their leader," said Charles Michel, president of the European Council, which represents the 27 national governments, in announcing Wednesday's video conference.

"Violence against protesters is unacceptable and cannot be allowed."

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, welcomed the upcoming talks, writing on Twitter: "The people of Belarus need to know that the EU stands by them firmly, and that those responsible for human rights violations and for violence will be sanctioned."

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, also called on Monday for a "thorough and transparent investigation" into the reports of abuse and mistreatment of thousands of protesters.

Describing a huge protest in the capital, Minsk, on Sunday as "the largest rally in Belarusian modern history", Borrell said, "The sheer numbers clearly show that the Belarusian population wants change, and wants it now. The EU stands by them."

A senior EU official, speaking to Reuters News Agency on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday's gathering would also send a message to Russia not to meddle in the former Soviet republic. Lukashenko has accused Belarus's EU neighbours of interfering and has said Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered "comprehensive help" to "ensure the security of Belarus" if needed.

"The way out of the crisis is through an end to violence, through de-escalation, through dialogue and without outside interference," said the official, without naming Russia.

The EU does not see Russian military intervention in Belarus, a landlocked country of 9.5 million, as a likely scenario for now, according to diplomats.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...-emergency-belarus-talks-200817182020924.html

 

[MenInG]

MINSK/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - 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 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.

“This is about the Belarusian people and their legitimate right to determine the future path of their country,” said the head of the EU’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Her comment was echoed by Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden.

“The brave citizens of Belarus are showing their voices will not be silenced by terror or torture,” he tweeted, adding that Russia, Belarus’s giant neighbour, should not interfere.

“This is not about geopolitics but the right to choose one’s leaders.”

Lukashenko, a gruff former collective farm boss facing the biggest crisis of his 26 year rule, has blamed foreign countries for stirring unrest and funding protesters. At least two protesters have died and thousands have been jailed, many emerging to complain of beatings and abuse.

“There should no longer be any disorder in Minsk of any kind,” Lukashenko said in remarks reported by state news agency Belta, announcing the new police crackdown in the capital. “People are tired. People demand peace and quiet.”

By early Wednesday evening, there was no sign of a major new operation to clear demonstrators from the streets. Hundreds of protesters assembled in front of the Interior Ministry, which runs the police. A large number of officers were stationed there with vans, but they took no action.

People chanted “Resign!” and “Let them out!” while passing cars honked their horns in the rain.

“Of course, as a girl I am afraid,” a protester who gave her name as Yulia, 28, said of demonstrating in front of the police. “I am afraid every time. But I am even more afraid that nothing will change. So we are afraid, but we come out.”

Mikhail, 38, said the demonstrators had picked the spot because the Interior Ministry “took part in terrible crimes. We won’t stop because it is impossible to live like this any more”.

Earlier, police dispersed a demonstration and detained two people at the Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) plant. Police also took control of the main state drama theatre in Minsk, a flashpoint for protests since its director was fired for speaking out against the mistreatment of demonstrators.

Lukashenko ordered border controls tightened to prevent an influx of “fighters and arms”, and intelligence agencies to search for organisers of demonstrations.

The EU wants to avoid a repeat of violence in neighbouring Ukraine, where a pro-Moscow leader was ousted in a popular uprising six years ago, triggering a Russian military intervention and Europe’s deadliest ongoing conflict.

“Belarus must find its own path, that must happen via dialogue in the country and there must be no intervention from outside,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Ruling out any role for herself as a mediator in the crisis, Merkel said she had tried to phone Lukashenko, but “he refused to talk to me, which I regret”.

Russia has consistently warned the West against meddling in Belarus, which has the closest economic, cultural and political ties to Moscow of all the former Soviet republics and is central to Russia’s European defence strategy.

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused unidentified foreign powers of interfering, which he called unacceptable.

EU officials say the situation differs from Ukraine in 2014, not least because the Belarus opposition does not seek to loosen ties with Russia, only to get rid of Lukashenko.

“Belarus is not Europe,” EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said, comparing it to pro-Western Ukraine and Georgia, both targets of Russian military operations. “Belarus is really strongly connected with Russia and the majority of the population is favourable to close links with Russia.”

But some European officials, especially in countries close to Belarus, have called for a firmer line to back the opposition and push back if Moscow supports any move to crush it.

The Kremlin faces the choice of sticking with Lukashenko to see if he can cling on, or trying to manage a transition to a new leader who would keep Minsk in Moscow’s orbit. Flight tracking data showed a Russian government plane used in the past by the FSB security service flew to Belarus and back overnight.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged the EU to reject official results giving Lukashenko 80% of the vote. A 37-year-old political novice, she stood as his main challenger in the election after better-known opposition figures were jailed or banned from standing.

“Mr. Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world,” said Tsikhanouskaya in English, in a video address from exile in neighbouring Lithuania.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...kashenko-eu-announces-sanctions-idUSKCN25F0LQ

 

[MenInG]

Belarusian opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has called for more mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year rule while also announcing she would not run for presidency if fresh elections are held.

Tikhanovskaya, who became Lukashenko's rival in the August 9 election in which he was declared the victor, fled to neighbouring Lithuania after the polls.

She emerged from obscurity to take her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski's place in the election campaign after he was jailed in May.

 

[Firebat]

Belarus opposition holds mass rally in Minsk despite ban

Opposition supporters in Belarus have held a mass rally in the capital Minsk, two weeks after a disputed election gave President Alexander Lukashenko another term in office.

Correspondents in the city said tens of thousands filled the central square despite a heavy police presence.

The protesters say Mr Lukashenko stole the election and want him to resign.

The president has vowed to crush unrest and blamed the dissent on unnamed "foreign-backed revolutionaries".

Recent protests were met with a crackdown in which at least four people were killed. Demonstrators said they had been tortured in prisons.

According to official results, Mr Lukashenko - who has ruled Belarus for 26 years - won more than 80% of the vote in the 9 August election and opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 10%.

There were no independent observers and the opposition alleges massive vote rigging.

Ms Tikhanovskaya, who was forced to flee to neighbouring Lithuania the day after the election, vowed to "stand till the end" in the protests.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53882062

 

[Firebat]

Belarus arrests two opposition figures after mass demonstrations

MINSK/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The authorities in Belarus arrested two of the leading opposition figures still at large on Monday, a day after tens of thousands of people defied the army to march demanding the downfall of president Alexander Lukashenko.

Two weeks after an election which his opponents say he rigged, Lukashenko has shown little sign of bringing a halt to the demonstrations, the biggest threat to his 26-year rule.

The president, who has called the protesters “rats”, said last week he had given an order to police to put down any demonstrations in Minsk. But tens of thousands took to the streets on Sunday in one of the biggest demonstrations since the election, and dispersed peacefully.

In a sign of the peril to an already shaky economy, several banking sources told Reuters most banks had effectively run out of foreign currency to meet surging demand from residents trying to sell the local Belarusian rouble. Queues have become common at exchange points.

A board member at the Belarus central bank told Reuters the issue was a technical one involving the physical availability of banknotes, and did not signal liquidity problems.

A spokesman for the Coordination Council, an opposition body set up last week, told Reuters two of its highest profile members, Olga Kovalkova and Sarhei Dyleuski, had been detained on Monday near a factory entrance.

Many of the leading figures in the Belarus opposition are in jail or have fled the country. The Coordination Council was set up with the stated aim of promoting a peaceful handover of authority, and comprise dozens of public figures including a Nobel Prize-winning author and the former head of the main state drama theatre. The government has launched a criminal investigation, calling it an illegal attempt to seize power.

“Belarus has changed and authorities will have to talk to us,” one of the council members, Maria Kolesnikova, told reporters.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...gures-after-mass-demonstrations-idUSKBN25K1RH

 

[Firebat]

Putin says he could send police to Belarus if necessary

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has formed a police reserve force to intervene in Belarus if necessary, but that point has not yet been reached.

Speaking on Russian state TV, he said Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko "asked me to set up a certain police reserve" and "I have done so".

"We also agreed that it won't be used until the situation gets out of control," he told Rossiya 1TV.

Mr Lukashenko's disputed 9 August re-election triggered huge protests.

Mr Putin said Russia had an obligation to help Belarus with its security under the two countries' close alliance, and he stressed the deep cultural, ethnic and linguistic ties between the two nations.

He said the new reserve force would not go into Belarus unless "extremist elements using political slogans as cover cross a certain boundary and start armed robbery, setting fire to cars, houses, banks, try to seize government buildings and so forth".

He added that "on the whole, though, the situation now is levelling out".

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Mr Putin was using the idea of restoring control in Belarus to hide a hostile breach of international law.

He said the plan must immediately be withdrawn.

Russia and Belarus are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, made up of a number of post-Soviet countries.

The two nations formed a union in 1996 that promoted greater integration as well as guaranteeing citizens the right to work and reside freely in both countries.

Read more:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53930796

 

[MenInG]

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarus opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova said security officers put a bag over her head and threatened to kill her when they tried to forcibly deport her to Ukraine earlier this week, according to a complaint filed by her lawyer on Thursday.

Kolesnikova, one of the most prominent leaders of month-old protests against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, prevented the attempt to expel her by tearing up her passport.

She has emerged as a hero for the protest movement trying to bring down the curtain on Lukashenko’s 26-year rule, and a chief target for the authorities who have detained her over accusations of an illegal attempt to seize power in the former Soviet republic.

She said in her statement that she had genuinely feared for her life during the failed deportation attempt.

“In particular it was stated that if I did not voluntarily leave the Republic of Belarus, I would be taken out anyway, alive or in bits. There were also threats to imprison me for up to 25 years,” Kolesnikova said.

She was told there would be “problems” for her while she was held under guard or in jail.

“The persons indicated (security officers) uttered threats to my life and health, which I took to be real,” she said.

Her lawyer Lyudmila Kazak filed a criminal complaint against Belarusian authorities including the KGB security police, for kidnap, illegal detention and threats to commit murder, the news portal Tut.By said.

The complaint was submitted to the state Investigative Committee. Asked for comment, a representative of the Committee, Sergei Kabakovich, said: “At the present moment I have no information about this.”

NAMES AND RANKS
Kolesnikova’s complaint included the names and ranks of individual officers of the KGB and the organised crime agency whom she accuses of threatening her, and said she would be able to identify them.

She is now being held in the capital Minsk, where Kazak said she was being questioned on Thursday. Kazak saw her client at a pretrial detention centre on Wednesday, and said she had bruises on her body.

Lukashenko denies rigging the Aug. 9 election, which official results said he won by a landslide, and has cracked down hard on protesters demanding his resignation. He has refused to talk to the opposition, saying it is bent on wrecking the country.

Inaugurating a new chief prosecutor on Thursday, Lukashenko reiterated his uncompromising line.

“Power is not given to be taken, thrown and given away,” he said, adding that the country must not return to the chaos of the 1990s following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

He told prosecutors to act more decisively against opposition networks, many using Telegram instant messaging channels to organise demonstrations, which he acknowledged had spread widely through workplaces.

“There is an attempt to seize power,” he said. “You must adopt a more powerful, sharper prosecutorial response to such actions.”

In the month since the disputed election, nearly all the opposition’s key leaders have been arrested, fled, or been forced to leave the country. The rights group Vesna (Spring) published a list of 58 people it described as political prisoners, with details of their arrests.

Writer Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature, accused the authorities on Wednesday of terrorising their own people. Diplomats from seven European countries came to her flat, in part to try to protect her.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, retains the support of his key ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin. The West has so far been cautious about taking firm action that might provoke a Russian intervention, although the EU is drawing up a list of Belarusian officials to target with sanctions.

Anton Rodnenkov, an opposition member who was expelled to Ukraine this week, was quoted by RIA news agency as saying: “Lukashenko will resign... If this happens in October or November this year, we would be pleased.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...with-expulsion-alive-or-in-bits-idUSKBN2611AF

 

[sweep_shot]

Belarus protests: Opposition keeps up pressure on Lukashenko

Tens of thousands of people have been marching in the capital Minsk and other cities, in the latest of several weeks of mass protest against President Alexander Lukashenko.
Large numbers of police have been deployed, blocking key areas.
Police said they arrested about 400 people ahead of and during the protests, dubbed the March of Heroes.
The protests have been triggered by a widely disputed election a month ago and subsequent brutal police crackdown.
Demonstrators want Mr Lukashenko to resign after alleging widespread ballot-rigging.
But the Belarusian leader - in power for 26 years - has denied the allegations and accuses Western nations of interfering.
The 66-year-old has promised to defend Belarus.
Most opposition leaders are now under arrest or in exile.
It is the fifth successive Sunday of mass protests, with about 100,000 rallying each week.

Eyewitnesses said the centre of Minsk was flooded with people. They marched on the elite residential area of Drozdy, where the country's top officials including President Lukashenko live, but were blocked by police.
Rallies are also being held in Brest, Gomel, Mogilyev and other cities.

However, the Interior Ministry said that as of 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT) the protests involved no more than 3,000 people across the country.

The ministry said arrests were made in various districts of the capital, and that those detained were carrying flags and placards "of an insulting nature".

In many ways Sunday's demonstration was similar to previous weeks.
When the march was at full strength the riot police had little choice but to watch on as the protesters filled the streets and waved their red and white flags.
The now famous "Goose for a free Belarus" was there, a bow tie round its neck, flapping its wings and posing for selfies. Plenty of families came too, determined to enjoy the warm weather.
It's on the side streets, and in the exposed moments when people arrive and disperse in smaller groups that the security forces strike.
It's not dignified or disciplined. The police, their faces usually covered, launch crude tackles at the protesters before dragging them kicking and screaming into waiting minivans.
After five Sundays of huge demonstrations there's still no sign of enthusiasm dwindling or that the threat of violence is stopping people from coming.

Video footage showed men in balaclavas pulling people out of the crowds gathering for the start of the march and taking them to unmarked minibuses.
Protests were triggered by elections on 9 August, in which Mr Lukashenko was handed an overwhelming victory amid widespread reports of vote-rigging.
Violent clashes on several nights following the poll led to thousands of arrests, and details emerged of severe beatings by police and overcrowding in detention centres.
This produced a new wave of demonstrations, with weekend rallies drawing tens of thousands.
Mr Lukashenko has said he may establish closer ties with Russia, his main ally.
On at least two occasions in the past few weeks, he has been photographed near his residence in Minsk carrying a gun and being surrounded by his heavily armed security personnel.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54139312.

 

[sweep_shot]

Belarus protests: Maria Kolesnikova charged under security law

Belarusian protest organiser Maria Kolesnikova has been charged with incitement to undermine national security, officials say.
Three women have been leading a mass opposition movement, but she is the only one not to go into exile.
Ms Kolesnikova is said to have ripped up her passport when the authorities tried to expel her from the country.
For the last five Sundays, at least 100,000 people have protested over what was widely seen as a rigged election.
President Alexander Lukashenko claimed an overwhelming victory in the 9 August poll, but a brutal crackdown on initial protests against the result only fuelled popular anger.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who stood against Mr Lukashenko as the opposition candidate, said she won the election. She was forced to flee to Lithuania shortly afterwards.
The third of the three women, Veronika Tsepkalo, has also left the country.
Mr Lukashenko has remained in power and is recognised by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who granted a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) loan after face-to-face talks between the two men on Monday.
Last week eyewitnesses saw Ms Kolesnikova, 38, being seized by masked men.
She was driven to the Ukrainian border with two other people, but she prevented officials forcibly expelling her by tearing up her passport and throwing it out of a car window, those who travelled with her said.

"It was stated that if I did not voluntarily leave the Republic of Belarus, I would be taken out anyway, alive or in bits. There were also threats to imprison me for up to 25 years," she said in a statement filed by her lawyer.
On Wednesday the Investigative Committee said in a statement that Ms Kolesnikova had been charged on Monday with calling for "actions aimed at undermining Belarusian national security" using the media and internet.
Meanwhile Ms Tikhanovskaya told the BBC that the opposition was ready to talk to Russia about their attempts to unseat Mr Lukashenko.
She said she regretted President Putin's decision to back Mr Lukashenko, whom she said was a dictator.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54183281.

 

[sweep_shot]

Belarus protests: Opposition icon, 73, among hundreds detained in Minsk

Belarus police have detained hundreds of women in the capital Minsk who had joined a march demanding that longtime President Alexander Lukashenko resign.
Men in green uniforms and black balaclavas encircled female protesters who shouted "Only cowards beat women!"
Among the detained was Nina Bahinskaya, a 73-year-old great-grandmother who has become an icon of the protest movement.
Mass protests are expected for the sixth straight Sunday over what was widely seen as a rigged election.
President Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, claimed an overwhelming victory in the 9 August poll, but a brutal crackdown on initial protests against the result only fuelled popular anger.

Around 2,000 people, mostly women, joined Saturday's march, which has become a weekly prelude to mass demonstrations every Sunday. They briefly scuffled with police who then blocked their path and started picking people one by one.
Police detained so many protesters that they ran out of room in vans and had to free some of the women, according to AFP news agency. It reported that Ms Bahinskaya was taken to a police station and released shortly afterwards.
Video posted by the independent Tut.by website showed a masked officer abruptly removing the flag and flowers she was carrying as she was pushed into a van.
In total, more than 300 women were detained, local human rights group Viasna said. Police did not give a number.

The opposition movement has been led by three women but only one, Maria Kolesnikova, has not gone into exile. She was charged with incitement to undermine national security days after allegedly ripping up her passport when the authorities tried to expel her from the country.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who stood against Mr Lukashenko as the opposition candidate, said she won the election and was forced to flee to Lithuania shortly afterwards. She is expected to meet European Union foreign ministers and the bloc's diplomatic chief in Brussels on Monday.
The third of the three women, Veronika Tsepkalo, has also left the country, a former Soviet republic.
The EU is considering fresh sanctions on the Lukashenko government because of the crackdown on the protests. According to UN Special Rapporteur Anaïs Marin, more than 10,000 peaceful protesters have been "abusively arrested" and "over 500 cases of torture, committed by state agents" have been reported.
Mr Lukashenko says the demonstrations are backed by foreign powers and has offered to implement constitutional reforms but, so far, has refused to step down. Earlier this month, he secured a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) loan from Russia..

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54220414.

 

[sweep_shot]

Belarus protests: Lukashenko holds meeting with opponents in jail

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held an unexpected meeting with political opponents in the jail where they are currently detained.

State media reported that the president called the meeting to discuss constitutional reform with the opponents he had jailed.

Opposition figures said the meeting was a sign of weakness on his part.

Mr Lukashenko claimed a landslide win in August elections widely seen as fraudulent, sparking mass protests.

A violent crackdown on unrest in the days following the disputed poll saw thousands of people detained, and hundreds beaten by police.

The EU and the US have refused to recognise Mr Lukashenko's new term.

What happened at the meeting?
The president's press office said participants had agreed to keep the four-and-a-half-hour conversation "secret".

However, a photo posted by the press service shows Mr Lukashenko sitting at a table with 11 political figures, all of whom look pale and unsmiling.

Among them is Viktor Babaryko, a banker who was initially seen as Mr Lukashenko's strongest rival in the election, but was barred from running and jailed in July.

Liliya Vlasova, a lawyer and member of the opposition's Coordination Council, is also in the photo, as is Vitali Shkliarov, a Belarusian-American strategist who worked on US Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign.

A short video clip shared by the press service also shows Mr Lukashenko saying to the group: "I am trying to convince not only your supporters but the whole of society that we need to look at thinks more broadly."

Apparently referring to the ongoing protests, he added: "You can't rewrite the constitution on the streets."

At the end of the clip the opponents are seen laughing at something, but the sound is muted.

What has the response been?
The president's main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya - who is currently in exile in Lithuania - later wrote on social media that Mr Lukashenko had "acknowledged the existence of political prisoners whom he used to call criminals".

But she then added: "You can't have dialogue in a prison cell."

Pavel Latushko, a former ambassador to France who joined the Coordination Council and was pressured to leave the country, also posted about the meeting on social media.

He said that by entering a dialogue with those he had put behind bars, Mr Lukashenko had shown weakness.

What is happening in Belarus?
Weeks of anti-government demonstrations since the disputed election have seen tens of thousands of protesters on the streets in cities across the country.

Many opposition activists have been beaten up by police and thousands have been arrested during months of unrest. They are demanding the release of all political prisoners and a free and fair re-run of the election.

Many of Ms Tikhanovskaya's supporters and allies have been detained, on the charge of making public calls to harm the country's security, or forced to leave the country after receiving threats from the authorities.

Meanwhile eight EU nations, including the UK and Germany, are recalling their ambassadors to Belarus in solidarity with Lithuania and Poland.

Belarus says Lithuania and Poland are interfering in its internal affairs by hosting Ms Tikhanovskaya and other opposition figures and refusing to accept the election result.

Belarus recalled its ambassadors to Poland and Lithuania last Friday and told both countries to reduce the number of staff at their embassies in Minsk. They refused and recalled their own ambassadors.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54496233.

 

[sweep_shot]

Belarus: Dozens arrested as police blast protesters with water cannon

Belarusian riot police have used water cannon and stun grenades to break up the latest mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.

Protests have swept the eastern European country since Mr Lukashenko claimed victory in an August election widely viewed as rigged.

Dozens of protesters were detained during the latest rallies on Sunday.

In the capital Minsk, police blasted protesters with coloured water to mark them out for arrest.

Critics of Mr Lukashenko said Sunday saw police use some of the most brutal tactics against protesters since the immediate aftermath of August's disputed presidential election.

Many opposition activists have been beaten up by police and thousands have been arrested during months of unrest. They are demanding the release of all political prisoners and a free and fair re-run of the election.

The EU, the UK and the US have refused to recognise Mr Lukashenko's new term. Mr Lukashenko denies fixing the poll and has received support from Russia, his country's closest ally.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya emerged as the main opposition leader after standing against Mr Lukashenko in August's election, arguing she would have won had it not been rigged.

Ms Tikhanovskaya was forced to go into exile in Lithuania after receiving threats following the disputed vote. She has repeatedly appealed to the international community to put pressure on Mr Lukashenko so that a democratic transition can be launched by negotiation.

Opposition hopes of a peaceful resolution were raised on Saturday after Mr Lukashenko held an unexpected meeting with political opponents in the jail where they are currently detained.

State media reported that the president called the meeting to discuss constitutional reform with his imprisoned opponents.

What happened at Sunday's protests?
In now-familiar scenes, thousands of pro-opposition protesters gathered in Minsk and other major cities for the ninth successive Sunday of demonstrations against Mr Lukashenko.

Wearing coats and carrying umbrellas on a rainy afternoon, protesters called for the resignation of 66-year-old Mr Lukashenko, Belarus's leader since 1994.

Footage shows the security forces, dressed in black and armed with batons, rounding up peaceful protestors congregating in Minsk city centre and taking them to waiting vehicles.

Police used stun grenades and water cannon against demonstrators in Minsk, a spokeswoman for Belarus's interior ministry told AFP news agency.

They sprayed plain and coloured water at demonstrators, covering them in what appeared to be orange dye.

Some defiant protesters remained unmoved, using their umbrellas to shield themselves from the blast.

A local news website described police using tear gas on crowds and said police were herding people into courtyards.

In videos posted online, police can be seen beating protesters with batons and snatching their white-and-red flags - a symbol of nationalist opposition to Mr Lukashenko.

Some protesters fought back and pelted police with bottles and other objects.

The Viasna rights group, which monitors detentions at political protests, said at least 140 people had been detained in Minsk and other cities.

Journalists covering the demonstrations were among those detained, including those from Russia's Tass agency and the state Belarusian news agency BELTA.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54500555.

 

[OMB]

European Union Cuts Air Links With Belarus Over Forced Plane Landing

Strongman Alexander Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying wanted reporter Roman Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

Brussels: EU leaders agreed to cut air links with Belarus on Monday, as leader Alexander Lukashenko's regime paraded a dissident journalist arrested after his flight was forced to land in Minsk.
Strongman Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying wanted reporter Roman Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

European leaders meeting in Brussels hit back by agreeing to ban Belarusian airlines from the bloc's airspace and urged EU-based carriers not to fly over its airspace.

The bloc also said it would adopt further "targeted economic sanctions" against the Belarusian authorities to add to the 88 regime figures and seven companies already on a blacklist over a crackdown on opposition.

The move came as Belarusian state television broadcast a 30-second video of Protasevich, who had been living between Lithuania and Poland, confirming that he was in prison in Minsk and "confessing" to charges of organising mass unrest.

The footage showed Protasevich -- who could face 15 years in jail -- with dark markings visible on his forehead, saying he was being treated "according to the law".

"This is how (Roman) looks under physical and moral pressure," exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya wrote on Twitter.

The EU leaders demanded the "immediate release" of Protasevich and Sapega, the conclusions of the summit said.

'Outrageous behaviour'

The forced landing of an airliner flying between EU nations has refocused attention on the festering political crisis in Belarus, where Lukashenko has unleashed waves of brutal repression to cling to power.

Western leaders accused Belarusian authorities of essentially hijacking a European plane, while Minsk claimed it had reacted to secure the flight after receiving a bomb threat.

"It is outrageous behaviour and Lukashenko and his regime have to understand that this will have severe consequences," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said.

The EU's push to punish Minsk followed announcements from some nations and airlines that they were cutting links to Belarus.

London also said it had issued instructions for British aircraft to avoid Belarusian airspace.

Ukraine said it would halt direct flights between the two countries and over Belarus, while Scandinavian airline SAS, Germany's Lufthansa and Latvia-based regional airline Air Baltic said they would be avoiding Belarusian airspace.

In a bid to heighten pressure on Lukashenko, Berlin, London and Brussels summoned the Belarusian ambassadors.

'Completely implausible'

Belarus has insisted it acted legally over the grounding of the Ryanair jet, accusing the West of making "unfounded accusations" for political reasons.

Its air force chief said the plane's captain had decided to land in Belarus "without outside interference" and that the pilot could have chosen to go to Ukraine or Poland.

A senior Belarusian transport official said the authorities received a letter claiming to be from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas threatening to blow up the plane over Vilnius unless the EU renounced support for Israel.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed Minsk's explanations as "completely implausible" and the EU demanded a probe by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The ICAO, a UN agency, is to meet on Thursday.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres backed calls for a "full, transparent and independent investigation into this disturbing incident".

'Shocking act'

NATO slammed a "serious and dangerous incident" and said envoys from the military alliance were to discuss it on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it "a shocking act".

The EU and other Western countries have already imposed a wide range of sanctions on Lukashenko's government over its crackdown on opposition demonstrations that followed his disputed re-election to a sixth term last August.

But Lukashenko has remained defiant with help from his main backer Russia.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab raised the possibility of that Russian had backed the operation.

"It's very difficult to believe that this kind of action could have been taken without at least the acquiescence of the authorities in Moscow," he told parliament.

But Moscow has dismissed the outrage in the West.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Minsk was taking an "absolutely reasonable approach" while ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mocked the Western indignation.

"We are shocked that the West calls the incident in Belarusian air space 'shocking,'" Zakharova said on Facebook, accusing Western nations of "kidnappings, forced landings and illegal arrests".

Together with co-founder Stepan Putilo, Protasevich until recently ran the Nexta channel on messaging app Telegram, which helped organise the protests that were the biggest challenge to Lukashenko's 26-year rule.

With close to two million subscribers on Telegram, Nexta Live and its sister channel Nexta are prominent opposition channels and helped mobilise protesters in Belarus.

Protasevich and Putilo were added to Belarus's list of "individuals involved in terrorist activity" last year.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/european-union-cuts-air-links-with-belarus-over-forced-plane-landing-2448666

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/defiant-belarus-leader-accuses-west-waging-hybrid-war-2021-05-26/

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Wednesday a journalist pulled off a plane that was forced to land in Minsk had been plotting a rebellion, and he accused the West of waging a hybrid war against him.

In his first public remarks since a Belarusian warplane intercepted a Ryanair flight on Sunday between European Union members Greece and Lithuania, he showed no hint of backing down from confrontation with countries that accuse him of air piracy.

"As we predicted, our ill-wishers from outside the country and from inside the country changed their methods of attack on the state," Lukashenko told parliament.

"They have crossed many red lines and have abandoned common sense and human morals," he said, referring to a "hybrid war" without giving any details.

Belarus has been subject to EU and U.S. sanctions since Lukashenko cracked down on pro-democracy protests after a disputed election last year. But his decision to intercept an international airliner in Belarusian airspace and arrest a 26-year-old dissident journalist has brought vows of much more serious action.

In his speech to parliament, Lukashenko gave no details of the "bloody rebellion" he accused journalist Roman Protasevich of planning.

Protasevich, whose social media feed from exile had been one of the last remaining independent sources of news about Belarus, was shown on state TV on Monday confessing to organising demonstrations.

But Belarus opposition figures dismissed the confession, seeing the video as evidence Protasevich had been tortured, an allegation repeated by his mother, Natalia.

"I simply plead with all the international community... please, world, stand up and help, I beg you so much because they will kill him," she told Polish broadcaster TVN.

Late on Tuesday, state TV broadcast a similar confession video of Sophia Sapega, a 23-year-old student arrested with Protasevich.

Germany led condemnation of Belarus over the videotapes, which Lukashenko's opponents said were recorded under coercion.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Belarusian rulers' practice of parading their prisoners in public with so-called 'confessions," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

Belarus denies it mistreats detainees. Rights groups have documented what they say are hundreds of cases of abuse and forced confessions since last year.

Europe's aviation regulator issued a bulletin on Wednesday urging all airlines to avoid Belarus airspace for safety reasons, saying the forced diversion of the Ryanair flight had put in question its ability to provide safe skies.

Western governments have told their airlines to re-route flights to avoid Belarus's airspace and have announced plans to ban Belarusian planes. The European Union says other unspecified sanctions are also in the works.

Credit rating agency S&P Global signalled it could downgrade Belarus' credit rating if Western governments impose stronger economic sanctions.

Lukashenko said he would respond harshly to any sanctions. His prime minister said the country could ban some imports and restrict transit in response, without giving details.

Landlocked Belarus is located between its ally Russia and the EU, and some Russian oil and gas flows through it. Last year, it retaliated for sanctions by limiting some oil export traffic through a port in Lithuania.

In his remarks to parliament, Lukashenko, 66, said street protests were no longer possible in Belarus. Most known opposition figures are now in jail or exile.

In power since 1994, Lukashenko faced weeks of mass protests after he was declared the winner of a presidential election that his opponents said was rigged. The protests lost momentum after thousands of arrests in a police crackdown.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said the opposition was now preparing a new phase of active protests.

"There's nothing more to wait for - we have to stop the terror once and for all," she said.

Western powers are seeking ways to increase the isolation of Lukashenko, who has previously shrugged off Western sanctions, which mostly consisted of placing officials on black lists. The West is wary of upsetting Moscow, which regards Belarus as a strategically important buffer.

U.S. President Joe Biden will discuss the incident with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit next month but the White House said it does not believe Moscow played any role in the incident.

Belarusian authorities on Tuesday released a transcript of a conversation between the Ryanair plane and an air traffic controller. In it, the controller tells the pilot of a bomb threat and advises him to land in Minsk. The pilot repeatedly questions the source of the information before agreeing to divert the plane.

The transcript, which Reuters could not independently verify, differed from excerpts released by Belarus state TV, which reported that the pilot had asked to land in Minsk, rather than that the controller advised him to do so.

The Ryanair plane remains in the Lithuanian capital’s airport, where it flew after Minsk, while data is collected form it, the Lithuanian prosecutor’s office said.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/27/world-aviation-body-to-launch-inquiry-into-belarus-hijacking

Russia has retaliated against a ban on carriers entering Belarus’s airspace by refusing to grant permission to European planes flying to Moscow.

In an apparent escalation by the Kremlin, Russian aviation authorities forced Austrian Airlines to cancel its flight from Vienna to the Russian capital. Air France also cancelled its Paris-Moscow flight for the second day in a row, after it was denied permission on Wednesday to land in Russia.

Both carriers had posted new routes bypassing Belarus. The move follows the “hijacking” on Sunday of a Ryanair plane flying between Greece and Lithuania, and the arrest of two passengers onboard, the journalist Raman Pratasevich and his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.

Air France and Austrian Airlines were following a recommendation by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It is unclear if Moscow’s retaliation is temporary or signals a more lasting standoff, which could in turn lead to countermeasures against the Russian national carrier Aeroflot.

Airlines including British Airways and KLM have been able to use new routes on flights to Moscow.

The UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization is meeting on Thursday in Montreal. It is likely to launch a speedy investigation into the Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko’s decision to down Pratasevich’s flight, as governments rush to deter copycat incidents.

The 36-member ICAO council will hold an “exceptional session” to “share and review the latest information available, and discuss” the forced grounding of the aircraft in Minsk, a spokesperson said.

The ICAO spokesperson said he would not “pre-empt their talks or speculate on what aspects of the incident, of the convention, or of other treaties their discussions may focus on”.

But legal experts said an investigation was certain and that Belarus’s eventual expulsion from an international convention facilitating travel by its national airline around the world and by others in its airspace was likely to garner the necessary majority support if Lukashenko and his Moscow-supported regime failed to back down.

Elmar Giemulla, an aviation lawyer who represented four German nationals killed in the downing of flight MH17 in Ukraine, said he understood that a full assembly meeting of the ICAO, which meets every three years, would be brought forward to respond to the results of an investigation once ordered by the council.

The 1944 Chicago convention establishes common rules of aviation safety and details the rights of its signatories, of which Belarus is one. The ICAO’s members are responsible for enforcing the convention including the safe and secure crossing of flights over national airspace.

Belarus has been accused of violating its terms by forcing the pilot of the Ryanair flight to land in Minsk using false claims of a bomb onboard. A MiG-29 fighter jet sent to escort the civilian aircraft to the ground left the pilot without any other option.

G7 foreign ministers who will meet next month at a summit in Cornwall called for Pratasevich’s immediate and unconditional release, together with all other journalists and political prisoners. They were considering further sanctions on Belarus, a statement said, with potassium and petrochemicals a likely target.

The ministers accused Lukashenko of jeopardising the safety of the passengers and crew and called on the ICAO to urgently address the challenge to its rules and standards.

In response, carriers are being asked by national governments to avoid Belarus airspace, and some, such as the UK, have suspended the operating permit of Belavia, effectively banning the Belarusian airline from flying over its territory.

Expulsion from the convention would put such measures on a firmer legal basis and leave Belarus in something close to a pariah status in aviation as the safety standards of both its aircraft and ground control would not be automatically recognised.

Giemulla said: “The more countries that are members of the club the better international aviation can be performed so to exclude a member is a very hard step.

“[Belarus’s expulsion] depends on very much of the position that Mr Lukashenko takes now. If he is very stubborn, says he is master of his house, I’m a sovereign state, then the reaction must be: ‘Sorry you don’t understand: we are talking about international civil aviation and we have to exclude you.’

“The question for the ICAO is not just to punish somebody. The problem is the danger of copying. If ICAO reacts in a soft way this could encourage other autocrats in the world, and there are many of them, to ignore and disregard the international community. If this spreads all over the place, we can forget international aviation.”

Lukashenko will hold talks on Friday in Sochi with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, his main ally. Sapega’s fate is likely to be decided at the meeting, depending on whether Putin intervenes on her behalf, BBC Russia reported on Thursday. So far the Kremlin has expressed little concern over her detention.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-leader-flies-into-russia-talks-with-putin-amid-uproar-over-air-piracy-2021-05-28/

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday offered his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko support in his standoff with the West over his handling of the grounding of a passenger jet and the arrest of a dissident blogger.

The West has accused Belarus of piracy after Belarusian air traffic control on Sunday informed the Ryanair pilot of a hoax bomb threat and Minsk scrambled a MiG-29 fighter plane to escort the jetliner down, and then arrested Roman Protasevich, a blogger and critic of Lukashenko, along with his girlfriend.

Both are now languishing in jail. Accused of orchestrating mass riots, Protasevich could be jailed for up to 15 years.

But Putin, a close ally of Lukashenko, gave his support to Lukashenko, warmly welcoming him for talks in the southern Russian city of Sochi and agreeing with Lukashenko that the West's reaction to the incident was "an outburst of emotion".

"At one time they forced the Bolivian president's plane to land and took him out of the plane and nothing, silence," said Putin, referring to a 2013 incident in which Evo Morales' plane was forced to land in Austria at a time when the United States was trying to intercept whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi were organised before the plane incident, but come after many European nations have imposed flight bans on Belarusian aviation and the EU is weighing further sanctions.

Lukashenko told Putin he would show him some confidential documents about the Ryanair incident that would help the Russian leader understand what really happened.

"There is always someone who causes problems for us. You know about them, I'll inform you," Lukashenko told Putin.

"I brought some documents so that you understand what is happening."

Looking relaxed and smiling, Putin had earlier suggested the two men take a sea dip, something Lukashenko agreed to.

Russia, a close ally which sees the ex-Soviet republic of 9.5 million as a strategically important buffer to its west, had offered verbal support to Minsk before the Putin meeting, while dismissing speculation it was itself complicit in the incident.

Moscow says Belarus has shown a readiness for transparency in the row and has described the West's reaction to the plane incident as "shocking," with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accusing it of "demonising" the authorities in Minsk.

Russia and Belarus, which are formally part of a "union state", have been in talks for years to further integrate their nations, a process that has long spurred fears among Belarus's beleaguered opposition that Lukashenko might trade off chunks of sovereignty in return for political backing from the Kremlin.

Putin told Lukashenko the two men were continuing to build the union state, but were doing so steadily, without haste, and in a low key way.

In power since 1994, Lukashenko with Russia’s help faced down the biggest protests of his rule last summer over election rigging, allegations that he denied. The protests lost momentum amid a violent crackdown, but his critics plan to stage new ones.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-airline-chief-decries-airspace-restrictions-by-eu-states-2021-05-29/

The head of Belarusian national airline Belavia on Saturday condemned as "despicable" the decision by numerous EU countries to impose airspace restrictions on the carrier following the forced landing of a passenger jet in Minsk.

Most of Belarus's neighbours and many other European nations have banned Belavia flights amid outrage over Sunday's forced landing of a Ryanair jet en route to Lithuania from Greece and the arrest of a dissident journalist on board.

The EU has proposed closing its airspace to state-owned Belavia and stopping it from landing at EU airports.

In a post on his Facebook page on Saturday, Belavia director Igor Tcherginets said such steps amounted to sanctions on the carrier, which he described as innocent.

"It is evident that these governments planned not only to close their countries for landing by our airplanes, but also, with an especially fascist perversity, they are closing air corridors one by one. They are mocking us," Tcherginets wrote.

He criticised European governments for imposing the restrictions before the International Civil Aviation Organization had investigated the incident.

"All this is happening before an investigation of the incident, for which there may be some guilty parties, but Belavia is definitely not among them," he added.

"They punish innocent Belavia, without even beginning an investigation. It's despicable."

Belarus has said it was responding to a bomb threat when it scrambled a MiG-29 fighter plane to escort the Ryanair jet down and authorities in Minsk then arrested Roman Protasevich - a blogger and critic of President Alexander Lukashenko - and his girlfriend. European leaders have accused Belarus of state-sponsored piracy.

 

[OMB]

Roman Protasevich: Belarus journalist's confession was forced - family says

The family of Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich says he was coerced into making a confession on TV of organising anti-government protests.

Mr Protasevich, 26, was arrested in Minsk last month after his flight to Lithuania was diverted.

In a tearful appearance on state TV, he praised President Alexander Lukashenko and admitted attempting to topple him.

Marks were visible on his wrists. Human rights and opposition campaigners say he was tortured.

Mr Protasevich was editor of the opposition Nexta channel on the Telegram messaging app until last year.

He was put on a list of "individuals involved in terrorist activity" by the government in Belarus.

Mass protests erupted across Belarus after Mr Lukashenko claimed victory in a 9 August presidential election widely condemned as rigged, which was followed by a crackdown.

The protests have been curbed and opposition leaders have been sent to prison or into exile.

'They broke him'
In the interview broadcast on Thursday evening, Mr Protasevich admitted to attempting to topple Mr Lukashenko and said that he was speaking to the television channel by choice.

He said that he had criticised President Lukashenko a lot but "began to understand that he was doing the right thing and I certainly respect him".

At the end of the interview, he burst into tears and said he hoped one day to marry and have children.

The journalist's father told AFP TV that it pained him to watch the interview.

"I know my son very well and I believe that he would never say such things. They broke him and forced him to say what was needed," he said. "No one should believe these words because they were beaten out, through abuse and torture of my son."

And his assertions were echoed by exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

"You should understand in what conditions these people are, and they are for sure being tortured and violated, and we shouldn't believe any of the words of these people, including Roman Protasevich, because you have to understand how they are forced to say," she said.

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the video was evidence of "brutality" by the security forces.

"It should be Exhibit A in a prosecution for torture and ill treatment under President Lukashenko," said HRW director Kenneth Roth.

Thursday's interview was Mr Protasevich's third appearance on state television since he was detained.

In one interview, he said there was no use in the opposition calling for further street protests.

On the face of it, it looked like a normal TV interview: there was a studio, multiple cameras, fancy lighting, two chairs.

But think of the circumstances in which it was being recorded and you realise this was no regular conversation between interviewer and interviewee.

For a start, Mr Protasevich is in custody in a Minsk detention centre. In most parts of the world, it would be highly unusual for an individual under arrest (and under interrogation) to appear on an interview show on state TV. Not unless he or she had been forced into it.

Mr Protasevich said he had agreed voluntarily to the interview. But he is not a free man: we should be wary of the programme's contents. The authorities' aim in putting him on TV is clear: to discredit the opposition and the protest movement.

For much of this long interview, Mr Protasevich spoke fluently and looked directly at the host. But most of the things he was saying were out of character, at odds with comments made before his arrest.

When asked about his time in conflict-hit eastern Ukraine, he grew agitated. Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass region have opened a criminal case against him over his alleged participation in the hostilities.

"Are you frightened you may be extradited?" he was asked.

"Of course," Mr Protasevich replied, looking down.

That prospect clearly makes him nervous. And Minsk may use the threat of transfer to the Donbass to ensure Mr Protasevich cooperates with their investigation.

Serious charges
The journalist and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were flying back to Lithuania, where they were both living, when their jet was made to land in Minsk over a fake bomb threat.

He faces serious charges. The charge of causing mass unrest can be punished by up to 15 years in jail. But terrorism offences carry higher sentences and as he was taken off the plane, passengers quoted him saying: "I'll get the death penalty here".

Mr Protasevich and Ms Sapega were led away by police and later appeared in videos where they were shown making what appeared to be forced confessions to crimes against the Belarusian authorities.

As a result of their arrests, the EU has now banned Belarusian airlines from overflying its airspace.

"We won't tolerate that one can try to play Russian roulette with the lives of innocent civilians," EU Council chief Charles Michel said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57353413

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/21/eu-widens-belarus-sanctions-to-make-lukashenko-regime-run-dry

Western countries have extended sanctions against Belarus, with a pledge to make Alexander Lukashenko’s regime “run dry”, following last month’s forced landing of a Ryanair flight to arrest a dissident.

In a coordinated move against Lukashenko, the UK, US, EU and Canada announced travel bans and asset freezes on senior Belarusian officials and entities that bankroll the regime as a punishment for the arrest of the activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, who were detained after being hauled off a flight from Athens to Vilnius.

EU foreign ministers agreed to add 86 people and entities to the bloc’s sanctions list while the UK announced it was imposing sanctions on seven individuals and one entity linked to the illegal forced landing of the Ryanair flight, as well as four people and one entity implicated in human rights abuses.

The US Treasury Department said it was freezing any US assets and barring any transactions with 16 individuals and five entities including Lukashenko’s press secretary, Natallia Mikalaeuna Eismant.

Going one step further, EU ministers also endorsed a plan for sanctions targeting the Belarusian economy, in an attempt to intensify pressure on Lukashenko’s regime.

“We will no longer only sanction individuals but also areas of the economy which are important to the regime. We want to make Lukashenko’s regime run dry financially,” said Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, in a statement on the German foreign ministry’s Twitter account.

“Sanctions are a way of putting pressure on the government of Belarus and these are going to hurt. These are going to hurt the economy of Belarus heavily,” the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told reporters.

Borrell said economic sanctions “will be approved after consideration of the European Council” of EU leaders, who meet for a two-day summit on Thursday.

Officials are working on sanctions to hit Belarus’s export industries, including oil, tobacco and potash, a salt used in fertiliser, which is a big source of foreign currency for Belarus. In a bid to further choke off funding to Lukashenko’s regime, EU banks will also be banned from offering loans or investment services.

Broad agreement on economic sanctions was established last Friday, after EU member states dropped final objections.

Austria, which has banking interests in Belarus, rejected reports it had been blocking a deal, arguing it wanted to ensure sanctions did not hurt the Belarusian people.

“We want to hit the state-affiliated economic sector, those responsible, not the people in Belarus, who are suffering anyway,” said the Austrian foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg. “We have to tighten the thumbscrews after this callous action of state air piracy.”

The latest sanctions on 78 individuals and eight entities are the fourth round of restrictive measures the EU has imposed on Belarus, since Lukashenko embarked on a brutal crackdown to stay in power after disputed elections last August.

The UK government said it was sanctioning BNK UK Ltd, an exporter of Belarusian oil products and promised “further measures targeting specific sectors of the Belarusian economy”.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “We will hold the regime to account in co-ordination with our allies including through further banning travel, freezing assets and cutting off oil export revenue streams.”

British-based companies, including British American Tobacco and Rolls-Royce are among the UK-based firms they have said they are willing to take action over their business interests in Belarus, following pressure from Belarusian dissidents.

The EU and UK have banned their airlines flying over Belarus, since the arrest of Pratasevich. The Belarusian opposition is worried for the dissident’s safety after a series of appearances on state TV and at press conferences, where he has praised Lukashenko.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader, has said it was evident Pratasevich was speaking under pressure. She said: “He’s been taken hostage in an act of state terrorism.”

Meeting EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday morning, Tsikhanouskaya brought a bullet she said had been extracted from the lung of a young activist hurt during the crackdown on peaceful protesters last August. “I wanted to show ministers what risks activists [and] journalists face on a daily basis in Belarus,” she wrote on Twitter.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-moves-jailed-opposition-blogger-protasevich-house-arrest-bbc-2021-06-25/

An opposition blogger who was arrested after his flight was forced to land in Belarus has been moved from a detention facility to house arrest, an opposition leader and the Belarus prosecution authority said on Friday.

The arrest of Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega after Belarusian authorities intercepted their Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 caused international outrage.

Protasevich is now in a rented flat in the Belarusian capital Minsk, his father Dmitri Protasevich told the BBC. He said the authorities had provided no further information.

Sapega, a Russian citizen, was moved to a separate rented flat, her stepfather told the BBC. The Kremlin said on Friday that Russian diplomats would continue to 'guard' her interests. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not say whether or when Sapega may return to Russia.

Opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's office confirmed both were under house arrest.

"The fact that Roman and Sofia were moved to house arrest and are not in cells any more is good news," Tsikhanouskaya, who is based in Lithuania, said in a statement. "But house arrest does not mean freedom ... They remain hostages."

The European Union imposed economic sanctions on Belarus on Thursday, targeting its main export industries and access to finance.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who faced street protests last year over a presidential election which opponents say was rigged, said the interception was justified to prevent a rebellion. He denies electoral fraud.

Protasevich is accused of organising riots, and faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted. Sapega has been accused of causing unrest.

Supporters say the accusations against the two are false and dismiss video confessions which they say were made under duress in detention.

The Belarus investigative committee, the law enforcement body charged with prosecuting major crimes, said in a statement on Friday that both Protasevich and Sapega continue their confessions and have pledged cooperation with investigators in exchange for house arrest, which was later granted.

Protasevich's father was quoted by the BBC as saying his son and Sapega were "still under the full control of the authorities" and the charges against them had not been dropped.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/03/belarus-exile-group-leader-vitaly-shishov-missing-in-kyiv-police-say

The head of a Kyiv-based non-profit organisation that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution has been found dead in a park in the Ukrainian capital, police have said, raising suspicion that he may have been murdered.

Vitaly Shishov, the head of Belarusian House in Ukraine (BDU), was reported missing by his partner on Monday after he failed to return from a run and could not be reached on his mobile phone.

“Belarusian citizen Vitaly Shishov, who had gone missing in Kyiv yesterday, was today found hanged in one of the Kyiv parks, not far from where he lived,” police said in a statement, adding that they had opened a murder investigation and would pursue all leads, including a possible “murder disguised as a suicide”.

Friends and colleagues suspect Shishov was targeted for his opposition to the government of Alexander Lukashenko, which has launched a broad crackdown on the opposition in Belarus and begun a campaign to hunt down its members abroad.

“There is no doubt that this was a planned operation by the [security services] to liquidate a Belarusian dangerous to the regime,” wrote his organisation BDU in a statement. “We will continue to seek the truth in Vitaly’s death!” BDU has called on supporters to rally outside the Belarusian embassy on Tuesday evening.

Shishov had recently complained about being followed by strangers while jogging, the human rights organisation Viasna said on Telegram. “Vitaly was being followed,” BDU wrote, adding it had been warned that its members could be kidnapped or murdered.

Shishov fled Belarus last year after protests erupted against Lukashenko over disputed presidential elections. Lukashenko’s main rivals have been imprisoned or have fled, while thousands of protesters have been arrested. Many said they have been tortured by their guards in jail.

In Kyiv, Shishov helped fleeing Belarusians, who would often move to the Ukrainian capital or continue to other safe havens for dissidents in Poland or Lithuania.

Shishkov also organised protests against Lukashenko’s regime, including one last week to mark the 31st anniversary of Belarus’s independence from the Soviet Union. According to his recent Facebook posts, he had collected money to restore a statue to Belarusians who had died during the 2014 Euromaidan revolution and fighting against Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.

“Devastated by the news of the death of the Belarusian activist,” wrote Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader now in exile. She met the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, on Tuesday as she called for tougher international sanctions on Belarus. “It is worrying that those who flee Belarus still can’t be safe. I’m thankful to authorities for launching an investigation into this case.”

Belarusian authorities have characterised anti-government protesters as criminals or violent revolutionaries backed by the west, describing the actions of law enforcement agencies as adequate and necessary.

If Shishov’s death is declared a murder, it will raise further concerns about Belarus’s targeting of dissidents abroad despite the threat of sanctions from the west.

Lukashenko drew international outrage in May by grounding a Ryanair jet in order to arrest a dissident journalist on board, prompting western countries to sanction dozens of Belarusian officials and sectors of the Belarusian economy. But that appears to have done little to prevent Lukashenko’s crackdown on dissent at home and abroad.

This week a Belarusian athlete, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, said she was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics and threatened with forced repatriation for criticising her coaches and the athletics federation on social media. Tsimanouskaya, who has received a humanitarian visa to Poland, has said she fears being jailed if she returns home.

And opposition Belarusians in Russia have said they have been targeted for rendition, in some cases under suspicious circumstances that more closely resemble kidnappings than legal proceedings.

In Kyiv, one dissident Belarusian media manager said he had warned his employees in the capital to stay in groups and avoid walking the streets alone at night. “In Poland, Lithuania and other countries, the Belarusian security services can’t really [act freely], but in Ukraine, they’re definitely there,” he said.

Shishov’s death came as Tsimanouskaya’s husband, Arseniy Zdanevich, told several news outlets that he had fled from Belarus and had arrived in Kyiv shortly before Shishov’s disappearance was announced. Zdanevich said he and his wife were planning to reunite soon.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/13/new-wave-of-arrests-in-belarus-as-more-than-20-detained-in-two-days

Belarusian authorities have detained more than 20 people in the latest wave of arrests, continuing their sweeping crackdown on dissent a year after a disputed presidential election, human rights activists say.

Belarus was rocked by protests which were fuelled by the 9 August 2020 re-election of the authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, to a sixth term in a vote that the opposition and the west rejected as a sham. Lukashenko responded to the demonstrations, the largest of which drew up to 200,000 people, with huge repressions in which more than 35,000 people were arrested and thousands beaten by police.

Belarusian authorities have ramped up the clampdown in recent months, arresting scores of independent journalists, activists and all those deemed not loyal. The Viasna human rights centre said on Thursday that more than 20 people have been detained over the past two days in six cities across the country.

Andrey Dmitriyeu, who was among the challengers to Lukashenko in the presidential vote, was detained for interrogation after a search in his Minsk apartment on Thursday. Dmitriyeu was released later in the day, and it was unclear if he faced any charges.

Ihar Lyashchenya, the former Belarusian ambassador to Slovenia, was arrested on Thursday on charges of “organising mass disturbances”, accusations that carry a prison sentence of up to eight years.

When the post-election protests erupted, Lyashchenya publicly criticised the crackdown on demonstrators and was stripped of his rank by Lukashenko.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday it was closely monitoring the situation in Belarus, amid calls for the global lender to limit the disbursement of new emergency reserves to Lukashenko’s government.

But IMF spokesman Gerry Rice also said the lender was guided in its actions by the international community, which “continues to deal with the current government in the country”.

Some US lawmakers have urged the IMF to set strict limits for Lukashenko’s ability to use nearly $1bn in new special drawing rights, the IMF’s own reserve currency, that Belarus is slated to receive as part of a $650bn allocation to all IMF members later this month.

But experts say that as long as the IMF’s members continue to recognise the government of Lukashenko, the fund cannot take more forceful action.

In a coordinated move with Britain and Canada, the US on Monday hit several Belarusian individuals and entities with new sanctions, aiming to punish Lukashenko.

In Belarus, those arrested in the latest wave also include lawyers, political and environmental activists who were part of the Skhod (Assembly) civic initiative intended to encourage a national dialogue.

Stsiapan Latypau, an activist who stabbed himself in the neck with a pen in the courtroom in June in protest against political repressions, faced a hearing on Thursday during which prosecutors asked the court to sentence him to eight-and-a-half years on charges of violation of public order, resistance to the police and fraud.

Latypau, who has been in jail since September, described to the court how police beat him in custody and used a plastic bag to suffocate him.

“I was crying, struggling to breathe in the plastic bag and they just laughed,” he said.

“The masked men beat me with their hands, their feet and using truncheons – they beat me simultaneously and then one by one. They beat me with their fists and palms over my ears, and it felt like a hand grenade exploding inside my head.”

Protests have withered as authorities have moved relentlessly to stamp out any sign of dissent, and opposition leaders have been either jailed or forced to leave the country.

Amid the continuing crackdown, several dozen of women dressed in white and carrying red flowers to represent the colours of the opposition’s red-and-white flag, marched across the Belarusian capital in a silent protest on Thursday.