Election in Belarus: is a bloody election night looming? Lukashenko makes a hint - human rights activists worried

The presidential election in Belarus has started. Alexander Lukashenko has been at the top for more than 25 years. Svetlana Tichanowskaja is the hope for his opponents.

• Shortly before the presidential election in Belarus , 33 suspected Russian mercenaries were arrested.
• President Alexander Lukashenko had contradicted the Kremlin's declarations that the troops were only in transit.
• The election began on Sunday (August 9th). 6.8 million people have been able to vote since seven o'clock.

Update from 12:37 p.m.: In a tense atmosphere, the people in Belarus elect their president. Observers assume that the long-time incumbent Alexander Lukashenko will win. But he feels that the 37-year-old opposition candidate Svetlana Tichanovskaya , who had gained massive support in the weeks leading up to the election, is obviously under pressure. On Sunday Lukashenko declared that he would not "lose control of the situation". International observers are not allowed to vote. The last four polls in the former Soviet republic have not been recognized by independent observers because of fraud and intimidation .

Even before election day, numerous human rights activists expressed concern about the possible brutality of protests after the vote . The right to peaceful gatherings and protests must be guaranteed, it said on Saturday in an appeal signed by the Wesna organization and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee.

Experts assume that Lukashenko will again secure his victory this time with the help of election fraud. Especially since a record number of 41.7 percent of those eligible to vote, according to the electoral commission, took advantage of the opportunity to cast their votes days in advance - leaving enough time for manipulation. But Tichanovskaya's candidacy presented the 65-year-old incumbent with unexpected challenges . It ran after her husband was arrested and excluded from the election. Her program consists primarily of two points: She wants to schedule new, free elections in which candidates like her husband who have been imprisoned or not admitted can also take part.

Election in Belarus: Problems with the accessibility of websites of independent media

“We are waiting for changes,” said a 60-year-old voter who refused to give her name. 26 years of Lukashenko are "a very long time, we need fresh blood", said a 33-year-old businesswoman and added: "I voted for Tichanovskaya". Although the authorities cracked down on the opposition before the election, tens of thousands took part in the opposition candidate's campaign events.

Meanwhile, people reported problems accessing independent media websites. The website of the independent election observation group Tschestnie Lijudi and the website of the election commission were not accessible. The video platform YouTube, encrypted messenger services such as Telegram and VPN connections were severely slowed down.

In a video message on the eve of the election, Tichanovskaya called on her supporters to do everything possible to ensure that the Belarusians “wake up in a new country”. In order to make election fraud more difficult, among other things, they should cast their votes as late as possible. "When you see that we won, celebrate our victory," she said. She had previously announced that she would not call her supporters to protest after the polls.

Before the message of #Belarus in #Berlin, a huge blow has formed. Belarusians in exile also want change. https://t.co/L8BTuFoAlb

Election in Belarus: Lukashenko wants to stay in power - but a woman could get in his way / become dangerous

Update from August 9, 8:20 a.m .: The election in authoritarian Belarus has begun. Around 6.8 million people have been able to vote in the almost 5,800 polling stations across the country since Sunday morning at 7 a.m. CEST. For head of state Alexander Lukashenko , the election could be decisive after more than a quarter of a century in office, because the opposition Svetlana Tichanowskaya has developed into a beacon of hope for Lukashenko's opponents in recent weeks. There are three other candidates. The first forecasts are expected after the polling stations close at 7 p.m. CEST. Observers assumed that election fraud had already begun.

Lukashenko is considered the “last dictator in Europe” and was particularly tough on critics and activists in the weeks leading up to the election. Tichanovskaya colleagues and fellow campaigners were also briefly taken into custody, including Maria Kolesnikova. She is the election supervisor of the unapproved candidate Viktor Babariko , who is also in prison. But she was released again.

The 37-year-old Tichanovskaya is said to have gone to safety in the capital the night before the election. For protection, she did not stay in her own apartment and stayed with colleagues, as her electoral staff announced. Before that, she had already brought her two children abroad. Her husband, the well-known blogger Sergei Tichanowski, is in prison . She had been registered as a candidate for election in his place.

Election in Belarus: Russian mercenaries arrested - Lukashenko goes on a confrontation course with Russia

First report from August 7th: Minsk - The presidential elections in Belarus will take place on Sunday , in which incumbent Alexander Lukashenko wants to secure his sixth term in a row. The 65-year-old, who has been president of his country since 1994, has now embarked on a course of confrontation with Russia in the run-up to the elections . The trigger for this was the arrest of 33 suspected Russian mercenaries last Wednesday.

Presidential election in Belarus: Ukraine calls for extradition of arrested mercenaries

Ukraine has now intervened in this dispute between Russia and Belarus . As Spiegel reports, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Kuleba has spoken to Minsk about the extradition of the arrested mercenaries to Ukraine. According to the authorities, 28 of the arrested men fought on the side of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Volodymyr Selenskyj , the President of Ukraine, had already phoned Lukashenko on Wednesday and pressed for extradition. Lukashenko described the incident on Thursday as a "serious problem" that should not be politicized. Meanwhile, Russia continues to demand the release of the men.

Belarus: 33 Russian mercenaries arrested - Kremlin dismisses allegations

As the Kremlin announced last week, the men were only passing through and had no intention of staying in Belarus . The stay had nothing to do with the country itself, said Kremlin spokesman Dimitrij Peskov last Friday. The mercenaries therefore had flight tickets to Istanbul with them and wanted to travel on to Turkey.

However, President Lukashenko promptly contradicted these accounts. “There was no Istanbul at all,” said the 65-year-old in response to the Kremlin spokesman's statements . "It is clear that this group had other goals" and the task now is to find out these. According to information from the authorities, the men are said to belong to the private Russian mercenary group Wagner . Minsk accuses them of wanting to cause unrest before the election on Sunday.

Before presidential elections in Belarus - observers suspect campaign maneuvers

Observers did not rule out, however, that the action could be a staged election campaign maneuver by Lukashenko to improve his chances of re-election . In the past few weeks there have been repeated large demonstrations against the president. ( fd )

List of rubric lists: © Sergei Grits / dpa / dpa-Bildfunk