steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
you speculated that he was on the basis of a spectacular, and stupid misreading of his T-shirt.
stop digging
Belarus : is the end coming for Lukashenko?
- Thread starter steeplejack
- Start date
you speculated that he was on the basis of a spectacular, and stupid misreading of his T-shirt.
stop digging
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Glad you are enjoying the thread Paolo and have found it interesting. I have been studying Belarusian politics and culture for quite a while now.
Flavour
hang the bankers
Spectacular and stupid misreading of his T-shirt... I disagree. I think you'll find there are plenty of far right groups/people who use very similar if not identical symbolism. But I am genuinely curious. Because what you're saying is not everybody who uses that symbol is far-right, and ok, but... are you denying that far right groups use it at all? Cos I think they do.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Since yesterday the following things have happened:
1. Belarusian airspace is being scrupulously avoided now by all EU based carriers who are skirting the country's airspace, ahead of the no-fly ban being confirmed through the week by the EU (it was announced yesterday). Belavia has been excluded from EU airspace to all intents and purposes.
2. Roman Protasevich appeared in a grim video released by his captors, displaying signs of beating / torture. In what appeared to be a forced statement, he said he was being treated properly and confessed to "organising mass riots". The hospitalisation / heart trouble rumours were also denied explicitly. He is being held in a pre-detention centre in Minsk. His girlfriend is being held in the notorious Akrestin Street prison. She is a Russian citizen, but her country's embassy has predictably declined to intervene on her behalf.
3. The Latvian diplomatic expulsions are as a result of the mayor of Riga flying the white-red-white flag to represent Belarus, as part of the International Hockey tournament. Russian spokesperson Peskov described this this morning as "an outrageous act".
You were asking about posting in bad faith. This is a good example of it.
Rather than holding your hands up to your mistake and moving on, you are doubling down, and attempting to divert this conversation into a discussion of far right symbolism based on a completely irrelevant logo that you pulled out your arse yesterday. Why?
I am not aware of any far-right grouping using the Pahonia symbol prominently. The symbol is the former state emblem of Belarus (91-95) and is also represented on the Lithuanian state emblem, given the intertwined nature of the two countries' histories. It's like stating that the Scottish lion rampant is a far right symbol. Total and utter drivel.
I am not going to respond further to you on this thread as it's clear your aim is to disrupt and derail it with deliberate misreadings and generally ill-informed nonsense. Why you are choosing to do this only you can explain.
1. Belarusian airspace is being scrupulously avoided now by all EU based carriers who are skirting the country's airspace, ahead of the no-fly ban being confirmed through the week by the EU (it was announced yesterday). Belavia has been excluded from EU airspace to all intents and purposes.
2. Roman Protasevich appeared in a grim video released by his captors, displaying signs of beating / torture. In what appeared to be a forced statement, he said he was being treated properly and confessed to "organising mass riots". The hospitalisation / heart trouble rumours were also denied explicitly. He is being held in a pre-detention centre in Minsk. His girlfriend is being held in the notorious Akrestin Street prison. She is a Russian citizen, but her country's embassy has predictably declined to intervene on her behalf.
3. The Latvian diplomatic expulsions are as a result of the mayor of Riga flying the white-red-white flag to represent Belarus, as part of the International Hockey tournament. Russian spokesperson Peskov described this this morning as "an outrageous act".
You were asking about posting in bad faith. This is a good example of it.
Rather than holding your hands up to your mistake and moving on, you are doubling down, and attempting to divert this conversation into a discussion of far right symbolism based on a completely irrelevant logo that you pulled out your arse yesterday. Why?
I am not aware of any far-right grouping using the Pahonia symbol prominently. The symbol is the former state emblem of Belarus (91-95) and is also represented on the Lithuanian state emblem, given the intertwined nature of the two countries' histories. It's like stating that the Scottish lion rampant is a far right symbol. Total and utter drivel.
I am not going to respond further to you on this thread as it's clear your aim is to disrupt and derail it with deliberate misreadings and generally ill-informed nonsense. Why you are choosing to do this only you can explain.
Flavour
hang the bankers
fair enough, steeplejack , point taken.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
in assassination as in comedy timing is everythingHah, embedded in Brixton for 15 years, I’ve been waiting to pounce.
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
Bellingcat are now saying, I think reasonably, that the four were not KGB/SVR, merely Russians who fancied getting off the plane.
Having people on the plane is unnecessary overkill - once the target is on the plane it's not as if he can leave, and it needlessly complicates matters should the plan not come off for some reason - if it lands in Vilnius with a Belarusian dissident, four KGB officers and a garbled bomb threat, then there's some explaining to do with no gain.
Absolutely no doubt that there was a KGB op in Athens though, which will delight the Greeks...
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
THEY HAVE AWOKEN A SLEEPING GIANT
little_legs
Поехали!
So they are going to keep this poor woman locked up for two months. No way she willingly gave this statement acknowledging that she runs a channel that publishes personal details of the employees of the ministry of internal affairs, ergo cops.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Summary: the cretinous sycophants surrounding Lukashenko are surprised by the blowback from the Ryanair hijacking and are braced for economic damage. The EU as usual are moving frustratingly slowly on publishing the list of sanctions and implementing them but are likely to ban whole sectors of the Belarusian economy rather than just companies or individuals. If they hit petrochemical processing and Belarusian potash, then there is likely to be damage in the billions of US dollars. If the regime is further prevented from raising government bonds in Euros then one of the key levers of sanction subversions will be removed. The EU will also have to co-operate closely with Kiev to ensure that they are on the same page with regard to sanctions, and to ensure that any fallout from Belarusian sanctions don't negatively impact the Ukraine economy.
Lukashenko gave a rambling statement to local politicians earlier this week saying that the Ryanair pilots had not been coerced to land but had co-operated fully with ground authorities. No MIG-29 was mentioned, of course. The cockpit recording between the Ryanair pilots and ground control was also released. In other aviation news it's hard to see how national carrier Belavia can be kept airborne. A Barcelona-bound plane was denied entry to Polish airspace earlier this week; it had to perform dozens of circles over the western town of Baranovichi in order to burn off enough fuel to land safely at Minsk. Belavia has cancelled and refunded all bookings to EU destinations; it faces the daunting prospect of having the re-route lucrative tourist routes to Egypt and Turkey via Russian airspace. The company faces a 70% collapse in revenue.
In other news sports tournaments including a European cycling meet have been cancelled by the organisers. Lukashenko, ever more desperate, is trying to find a constitutional gear. He suggests various arcane constitutional mechanisms to try and shore up his position. He meets Putin in Sochi today, and it is rumoured that his Russian counterpart has told him to leave. The FSB met with the Belarusian KGB top brass in Gomel yesterday, for unspecified reasons.
Whilst last weekend's theatre has been amusing for the Russians they simply do not have the money or the will to prop up Lukashenko indefinitely. Who needs such an analogue, money-haemorrhaging liability in 2021? The proposed Russian electoral vehicle- Soyuz (Union)- is still being barrred from registration by the Belarusian electoral regulator. This is likely to irritate Putin further. In public, of course, Lukashenko peddles bollocks about how "two independent countries are working out a way to make a greater, stronger union".
Beyond the borders of the "union state" Veronika Tsepkalo, one of the Tikhanovskaya triumvirate from last year, has launched an $11 million reward fund. This is a sum of money to be paid to the security or law enforcement officer(s) in Belarus, who arrest Lukashenko successfully and secure him for future legal proceedings- I can't think of a previous example of a crowd-funded bounty being put on a head of state. Meanwhile the complete disinformation that Roman Protasevich is some kind of Nazi and fought with the Azov battalion in Ukraine is being circulated by the usual sources, including Craig Murray. Protasevich was in Ukraine to report on the Azov as a journalist- this is on record. This is being spun to suggest that he was a Nazi sympathiser and, according to a newly raised Russian court action, participated in atrocities / genocide. A shabby fabrication. Who knows what's happening to Protasevich and his partner as I write this. Protasevich's mother has appeared at a press conference in Poland, where she lives, calling for the EU to take concrete steps to release the pair.
Even if things had been relatively normal politically, the Belarusian state would have been reeling under the blows of COVID & the global economic problems that have resulted from the pandemic. But in large part the people have withdrawn their consent to be ruled by Lukashenko in this way. Many are however very frightened and understandably so. There are demonstrations with white-red-white flags but they are small hit and run, locally organised affairs that disperse quickly. The regime is intent on criminalising the symbol and punishing its display with multiple years in prison- this is de facto if not de jure the position already. The regime is also try to destroy strike actions at local workplaces- Belaruskali, BELAZ, MTZ, Naftan in Novopolotsk- by imprisoning strike leaderships. A well known anti-government activist, Vitold Ashurak, was laid to rest yesterday after dying "of a heart attack" under special regime conditions in prison. Police officers attended the morgue and threatened the instituion's caretaker with immediate dismissal and/or arrest if tributes left for the activist by sympathisers were not removed from public display.
The opposition leadership in Vilnius is steeled for further protests and a showdown with the regime. The true believers and opportunists who support the regime are in a distinct minority- but they are armed to the teeth, control all the levers of power and can and will contemplate anything to hold onto this position. It's that pitted against the people's withdrawal of consent to their rule. A decisive few weeks and months ahead.
Lukashenko gave a rambling statement to local politicians earlier this week saying that the Ryanair pilots had not been coerced to land but had co-operated fully with ground authorities. No MIG-29 was mentioned, of course. The cockpit recording between the Ryanair pilots and ground control was also released. In other aviation news it's hard to see how national carrier Belavia can be kept airborne. A Barcelona-bound plane was denied entry to Polish airspace earlier this week; it had to perform dozens of circles over the western town of Baranovichi in order to burn off enough fuel to land safely at Minsk. Belavia has cancelled and refunded all bookings to EU destinations; it faces the daunting prospect of having the re-route lucrative tourist routes to Egypt and Turkey via Russian airspace. The company faces a 70% collapse in revenue.
In other news sports tournaments including a European cycling meet have been cancelled by the organisers. Lukashenko, ever more desperate, is trying to find a constitutional gear. He suggests various arcane constitutional mechanisms to try and shore up his position. He meets Putin in Sochi today, and it is rumoured that his Russian counterpart has told him to leave. The FSB met with the Belarusian KGB top brass in Gomel yesterday, for unspecified reasons.
Whilst last weekend's theatre has been amusing for the Russians they simply do not have the money or the will to prop up Lukashenko indefinitely. Who needs such an analogue, money-haemorrhaging liability in 2021? The proposed Russian electoral vehicle- Soyuz (Union)- is still being barrred from registration by the Belarusian electoral regulator. This is likely to irritate Putin further. In public, of course, Lukashenko peddles bollocks about how "two independent countries are working out a way to make a greater, stronger union".
Beyond the borders of the "union state" Veronika Tsepkalo, one of the Tikhanovskaya triumvirate from last year, has launched an $11 million reward fund. This is a sum of money to be paid to the security or law enforcement officer(s) in Belarus, who arrest Lukashenko successfully and secure him for future legal proceedings- I can't think of a previous example of a crowd-funded bounty being put on a head of state. Meanwhile the complete disinformation that Roman Protasevich is some kind of Nazi and fought with the Azov battalion in Ukraine is being circulated by the usual sources, including Craig Murray. Protasevich was in Ukraine to report on the Azov as a journalist- this is on record. This is being spun to suggest that he was a Nazi sympathiser and, according to a newly raised Russian court action, participated in atrocities / genocide. A shabby fabrication. Who knows what's happening to Protasevich and his partner as I write this. Protasevich's mother has appeared at a press conference in Poland, where she lives, calling for the EU to take concrete steps to release the pair.
Even if things had been relatively normal politically, the Belarusian state would have been reeling under the blows of COVID & the global economic problems that have resulted from the pandemic. But in large part the people have withdrawn their consent to be ruled by Lukashenko in this way. Many are however very frightened and understandably so. There are demonstrations with white-red-white flags but they are small hit and run, locally organised affairs that disperse quickly. The regime is intent on criminalising the symbol and punishing its display with multiple years in prison- this is de facto if not de jure the position already. The regime is also try to destroy strike actions at local workplaces- Belaruskali, BELAZ, MTZ, Naftan in Novopolotsk- by imprisoning strike leaderships. A well known anti-government activist, Vitold Ashurak, was laid to rest yesterday after dying "of a heart attack" under special regime conditions in prison. Police officers attended the morgue and threatened the instituion's caretaker with immediate dismissal and/or arrest if tributes left for the activist by sympathisers were not removed from public display.
The opposition leadership in Vilnius is steeled for further protests and a showdown with the regime. The true believers and opportunists who support the regime are in a distinct minority- but they are armed to the teeth, control all the levers of power and can and will contemplate anything to hold onto this position. It's that pitted against the people's withdrawal of consent to their rule. A decisive few weeks and months ahead.
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Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Russia is backing Belarus in so much as it has denied entry to Russian airspace to a couple of EU airlines (AF & OS) who filed flight plans that routed around Belarusian airspace. Cheeky fuckers got the AF passengers to rebook on Aeroflot 
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
An easy win for the Russians, that, doesn’t cost them anything. However they don't have the resources to write a blank cheque for Belarus.
The dilemmas on sanctions for Belarus - useful summary.
The dilemmas on sanctions for Belarus - useful summary.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
The EU is offering Belarus €3bn if it stops torturing people for a bit.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
The Belarusian border is now closed to its own citizens. Today the State Border Committee decreed that Belarusian citizens may not cross the land border without a permanent residence permit from another country. Temporary residence permits will no longer be enough to get you across the border, which is to all intents and purposes now impassable.
The BYPOL opposition-aligned initiative, made up of former police and service personnel, has announced the formation of an underground people's militia organised via secure chat bot / telegram. This is to ensure the effective mobilisation of supporters when mass protests start again. The initiative is supported by Tikhanovskaya- perhaps a recognition that the strategy of endless A to B marches resulting in mass detentions coupled with foreign diplomacy, isn't working quickly enough / at all. BYPOL have developed a strategic plan called "Victory" which will ensure the transfer of power to Tikhanovskaya's temporary government.
Russia is bracing itself for possible removal from SWIFT and has already apparently "put alternative arrangements in place". It may be that this is in response to the threat to remove Belarus from SWIFT.
Once again little information was made available from Lukashenko's meeting with Putin in Sochi. Further money was made available according to the loan consolidation schedule, but the concessions made in return have not been made clear. Safe to assume that soft union is coming about with the present government.
The BYPOL opposition-aligned initiative, made up of former police and service personnel, has announced the formation of an underground people's militia organised via secure chat bot / telegram. This is to ensure the effective mobilisation of supporters when mass protests start again. The initiative is supported by Tikhanovskaya- perhaps a recognition that the strategy of endless A to B marches resulting in mass detentions coupled with foreign diplomacy, isn't working quickly enough / at all. BYPOL have developed a strategic plan called "Victory" which will ensure the transfer of power to Tikhanovskaya's temporary government.
Russia is bracing itself for possible removal from SWIFT and has already apparently "put alternative arrangements in place". It may be that this is in response to the threat to remove Belarus from SWIFT.
Once again little information was made available from Lukashenko's meeting with Putin in Sochi. Further money was made available according to the loan consolidation schedule, but the concessions made in return have not been made clear. Safe to assume that soft union is coming about with the present government.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
This is not actually true- it is contingent on the democratisation of the country. Von der Leyen stopped just short of calling for regime change in this speech.
Pretty obvious Lukashenko isn't going to to go for this so it is more for the ears of the opposition and the Belarusian people, as to what assistance will be on the table in a democratic Belarus.
It does seem a long way off yet but a clearer counter-offer from the EU has now been tabled.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Distressing videos circulating on twitter of political prisoner Stepan Latypau cutting his own throat whilst in court.
He had appeared in court badly bruised and with his arm in a sling. He alleged repeated mistreatment in custody and that threats had been made to detain his neighbours and do the same to them if he did not confess to the charges against him. Nonsensical and fabricated charges regaring facilitating mass riots and intention to use poison against police have been levelled against him. Yet, no doubt Craig Murray & the conspiracy theorists will be along shortly to make allegations he's a neo-Nazi.
It's a war of annihilation by the state against its own citizens. It really feels as though things are heating up.
He had appeared in court badly bruised and with his arm in a sling. He alleged repeated mistreatment in custody and that threats had been made to detain his neighbours and do the same to them if he did not confess to the charges against him. Nonsensical and fabricated charges regaring facilitating mass riots and intention to use poison against police have been levelled against him. Yet, no doubt Craig Murray & the conspiracy theorists will be along shortly to make allegations he's a neo-Nazi.
It's a war of annihilation by the state against its own citizens. It really feels as though things are heating up.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
b-b-b-b-but but but, Lukashenko is locking up neo-Nazi oppositionists
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Roman Protasevich appeared on a harrowing "special programme" on national televsion last night to "confess his guilt", admit his "respect" for Lukashenko, and state his desire to live "a normal life". He broke down in tears at the end. His wrists display signs of torture (photo attached). Ludicrously, the state broadcaster stated that Belarus had only been able to detain Protasevich as he had been given up by the opposition in an "elaborate plot" personally headed by Franak Viačorka, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's adviser and longstanding regime opponent. If you believe that then probably you also believe the moon's made of green cheese.
Protasevich's parents continue to press the EU for action to secure his release.
The activist who attempted to commit suicide in court, Stepan Latypau, is back in jail after hospital treatment. His "trial" will resume next week. Elsewhere in another absolutely normal and run of the mill day in the Belarusian justice system, the Krumkachy footballer and football writer Aleksandr Ivulin, and his former TV colleague Yaroslav Pisarenko, were arrested after a flat search. Today Ivulin was jailed for thirty days for a "flag in the window" which simply was not there. But in Belarus the outcome of trials is always pre-determined, and if someone wants you to go to jail, you will, facts or no facts. Ivulin is also a known regime opponent and has been noisy on social media in recent days; regarding the pressure top footballers are put under to support the government (seven Dinamo Minsk footballers signed a letter supporting Lukashenko this week, despite one of them having been a vocal opposition supporter a couple of months ago). Gomel FC's players are threatened with the army, jail, or worse. Energetik Minsk are currently barred from receiving the sponsorship money they depend upon, because none of their players signed a pro-government letter. Ivulin also organised an online fundraiser for the brother of Krumkachy's goalkeeper, Aleksey Koltygin. The keeper's brother was jailed for five years last week simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Taking all these things together, Ivulin had clearly become an irritant to someone and they decided to keep him quiet for a while. A month of jail with COVID-infected prisoners, in cells, sleeping eight, terrible food, insanitary conditions & no exercise in Zhodino should see to that.
Meanwhile NEXTA's editor wrote a very insightful article with the bleak but pragmatic analysis that getting rid of Lukashenko is impossible without Russia's backing. The only way to do this, he argues, is to make the cost of propping up the elderly psychopath prohibitive. If the EU hits entire sectors- namely oil processing, potash, heavy industry (BELAZ, MAZ, MTZ, Gomselmash, Grodno AZOT etc) then the cost is likely to be prohibitive. I guess the unanswered question is for how long Russia would be willing to foot what would become a massive bill. It's one thing to prop up unrecognised statelets like Transnistria, quite another to prop up a country of 9.5 million people.
Protasevich's parents continue to press the EU for action to secure his release.
The activist who attempted to commit suicide in court, Stepan Latypau, is back in jail after hospital treatment. His "trial" will resume next week. Elsewhere in another absolutely normal and run of the mill day in the Belarusian justice system, the Krumkachy footballer and football writer Aleksandr Ivulin, and his former TV colleague Yaroslav Pisarenko, were arrested after a flat search. Today Ivulin was jailed for thirty days for a "flag in the window" which simply was not there. But in Belarus the outcome of trials is always pre-determined, and if someone wants you to go to jail, you will, facts or no facts. Ivulin is also a known regime opponent and has been noisy on social media in recent days; regarding the pressure top footballers are put under to support the government (seven Dinamo Minsk footballers signed a letter supporting Lukashenko this week, despite one of them having been a vocal opposition supporter a couple of months ago). Gomel FC's players are threatened with the army, jail, or worse. Energetik Minsk are currently barred from receiving the sponsorship money they depend upon, because none of their players signed a pro-government letter. Ivulin also organised an online fundraiser for the brother of Krumkachy's goalkeeper, Aleksey Koltygin. The keeper's brother was jailed for five years last week simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Taking all these things together, Ivulin had clearly become an irritant to someone and they decided to keep him quiet for a while. A month of jail with COVID-infected prisoners, in cells, sleeping eight, terrible food, insanitary conditions & no exercise in Zhodino should see to that.
Meanwhile NEXTA's editor wrote a very insightful article with the bleak but pragmatic analysis that getting rid of Lukashenko is impossible without Russia's backing. The only way to do this, he argues, is to make the cost of propping up the elderly psychopath prohibitive. If the EU hits entire sectors- namely oil processing, potash, heavy industry (BELAZ, MAZ, MTZ, Gomselmash, Grodno AZOT etc) then the cost is likely to be prohibitive. I guess the unanswered question is for how long Russia would be willing to foot what would become a massive bill. It's one thing to prop up unrecognised statelets like Transnistria, quite another to prop up a country of 9.5 million people.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Round-up from Belarus Anarchist Black Cross:
If anyone feels like sending some moral support to Belarusian political prisoners, Belarus ABC also offer a thing where you can send them a message and they'll translate it and send it on to a prisoner for you - list of prisoners they support is here.
If anyone feels like sending some moral support to Belarusian political prisoners, Belarus ABC also offer a thing where you can send them a message and they'll translate it and send it on to a prisoner for you - list of prisoners they support is here.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
New monthly update:
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
New, long, article on the movement:
crimethinc.com
Belarus: “When We Rise”
Anarchists who participated in the 2020 revolt analyze its strengths and weaknesses, exploring why it ultimately failed to topple the dictatorship.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Belarus: Antifascist detained to serve 18 months of forced labour for a street performance - Freedom News
Belarussian activist, antifascist and the singer of street punk band Mister X– Igor Bancer has been sent to a work camp following a court verdict sentencing him to 18 months of forced labour. Igor is no stranger to state oppression and has been arrested multiple times in the past. This time...
freedomnews.org.uk
Ukrainian special services assist Lukashenka's regime to repress Belarusian anarchists - Freedom News
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs responded to the request from the Belarusian security officials sent through Interpol and are attempting to deport two Belarusian anarchists: Alexei Bolenkov (known as Max Belorus) and Artur Kondratovich, to their home...
freedomnews.org.uk
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
It's true that Lukashenko has a special loathing for anarchists- it's not quite clear why- perhaps some former Brezhnevite muscle memory from the pre-1991 days. He also has pushed hard against football firms for a long time now. Independent minded groups not shy of physical action are clearly in a dangerous position in a regime such as this. Many Belarusian anarchists not in jail are now in Poland.
In the last while Lukashenko has put huge pressure on the independent media sector. He effectively closed down the office of tut.by, one of the best known Belarusian independent portals, attacked Nasha Niva this week- a long standing independent newspaper / organisation; he has gone after many regional independent outlets across the country.
The Goethe Institute, one of the very few organisations prepared to pay for / support the independent cultural scene in Belarus, has been deprived of its premises and ordered to leave the country. Aleksandr Ivulin, the journalist-footballer mentioned above, was due to have been released last week but is now being persecuted under article 342 of the criminal code which carries a further penalty of two years. I doubt he'll see freedom this summer. Petty, vindictive, enraging...it is meant to have this effect on his supporters and on him personally, of course.
Speaking of jail former presidential candidate and erstwhile chairman of Belgazprombank Viktor Babariko was sent to a special regime prison last week for fourteen years on ludicrous embezzlement / smuggling charges. He's now in a penal colony near Novopolotsk. This is the usual depressing fate of anyone who dares challenge Lukashenko in an election. Eleven students who organised pro-democracy events last summer at universities in Minsk today were jailed for 2-2.5 years. A young law graduate who used her graduation speech to voice thanks to tutors who had been dismissed for pro-opposition sentiments was arrested and jailed for fifteen days.
The darkest hour is always before the dawn. That's what we must believe, I suppose.
In the last while Lukashenko has put huge pressure on the independent media sector. He effectively closed down the office of tut.by, one of the best known Belarusian independent portals, attacked Nasha Niva this week- a long standing independent newspaper / organisation; he has gone after many regional independent outlets across the country.
The Goethe Institute, one of the very few organisations prepared to pay for / support the independent cultural scene in Belarus, has been deprived of its premises and ordered to leave the country. Aleksandr Ivulin, the journalist-footballer mentioned above, was due to have been released last week but is now being persecuted under article 342 of the criminal code which carries a further penalty of two years. I doubt he'll see freedom this summer. Petty, vindictive, enraging...it is meant to have this effect on his supporters and on him personally, of course.
Speaking of jail former presidential candidate and erstwhile chairman of Belgazprombank Viktor Babariko was sent to a special regime prison last week for fourteen years on ludicrous embezzlement / smuggling charges. He's now in a penal colony near Novopolotsk. This is the usual depressing fate of anyone who dares challenge Lukashenko in an election. Eleven students who organised pro-democracy events last summer at universities in Minsk today were jailed for 2-2.5 years. A young law graduate who used her graduation speech to voice thanks to tutors who had been dismissed for pro-opposition sentiments was arrested and jailed for fifteen days.
The darkest hour is always before the dawn. That's what we must believe, I suppose.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Some articles on this (very bad) week's near-total purge of the NGO sector in Belarus and the arresting /jailing /placing under investigation of many people who work in that sector.
Andrew Roth on the purge of the voluntary sector (Grauniad)
An article (in Russian) on Lukashenko's absolute indifference to the "crisis of legitimacy", as long as he maintains a grip on power. Criticism of ineffectiveness of opposition campaign
Detailed account of Black Week for Belarusian NGOs
Things do look especially bleak right now. No coincidence that this action co-incides with (to my mind) Tikhanovskaya's ill-advised week of public gladhanding with American politicians in the US. If anything will harden Minsk and Moscow against her further it's pictures of her grinning whilst US Democrats wang on about "Belarusian aspirations for freedom" knowing fine well that the US can do pretty much knob all about it.
Andrew Roth on the purge of the voluntary sector (Grauniad)
An article (in Russian) on Lukashenko's absolute indifference to the "crisis of legitimacy", as long as he maintains a grip on power. Criticism of ineffectiveness of opposition campaign
Detailed account of Black Week for Belarusian NGOs
Things do look especially bleak right now. No coincidence that this action co-incides with (to my mind) Tikhanovskaya's ill-advised week of public gladhanding with American politicians in the US. If anything will harden Minsk and Moscow against her further it's pictures of her grinning whilst US Democrats wang on about "Belarusian aspirations for freedom" knowing fine well that the US can do pretty much knob all about it.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Fraught negotiations between Putin & Lukashenko in St. Petersburg over money / sanctions.
Suggestion that evisceration of NGO sector & independent media at Putin’s behest.
Suggestion that evisceration of NGO sector & independent media at Putin’s behest.
not-bono-ever
meh
last year, the Belarus government expelled a brace of brit diplomats as PNG, started a mini tit for tat flurry of actions. the Deputy Ambassador had been seen taking a phone picture of the demonstrations when out for a walk-by the usual grey faced government spooks that spend all day tailing them. It would seem that there were warnings of prolonged hassle at Minsk airport so were driven to Lithuania by private car to avoid a scene. its so very petty
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Yes everyone in Tokyo seems to be furiously looking the other way. From the Olympic Village to Akrestsin Street in 24 hours.
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