New wave of arrests in Belarus as more than 20 detained in two days
The Guardian with Reuters
17 August 2021, 12:18
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.
17 August 2021, 12:18
Demonstrators march with Belarusian opposition flags at a solidarity rally with Belarus in Wroclaw, Poland, this week on the one-year anniversary of Belarus’s disputed presidential election. Photograph: Lidia Mukhamadeeva/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock
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.
