Idafe Martin
05/24/2021 10:18 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 05/24/2021 10:18 AM
Belarus,
today in the headlines of the newspapers for the serious diversion of a passenger plane to arrest an opposition journalist,
It has been considered for years “the
last European dictatorship
”.
A country of just over nine million inhabitants controlled with an iron fist by Alexandr Lukashenko since he came to the presidential seat in 1994.
For decades, with its ups and downs, Belarus knew how to live with Europe, always hand in hand with its neighbor Russia
because Moscow sees Belarus as an artificial creation that it will
one day gobble up
.
The Belarusian regime always
controlled and repressed
any opposition movement and limited press freedom as much as possible.
Dozens of political dissidents and journalists have been imprisoned or ended up in exile, such as
Roman Protasevich
the young man arrested on Sunday, who had received political refugee status in Lithuania.
The power of the club
Roman Protasevich.
Photo: Reuters
The evolution of Belarus took
a turn
in August last year and the repression intensified.
After a presidential election probably more fraudulent than usual held on August 9, the opposition saw the glass half full to
rush
to the streets to protest.
Hundreds of thousands of people followed them and every Saturday huge demonstrations were organized in the capital, Minsk, and in other cities of the country.
The end of summer and autumn were hot for the regime, but
the brutal repression saved Lukashenko.
Thousands of people, from human rights activists to journalists, through opponents or simple protesters, were arrested.
Hundreds were beaten,
tortured
and sentenced to long prison terms in unfair trials.
After the August elections, the opposition stormed out into the streets to protest.
Photo: AP
Human rights organizations speak of rape, torture with electric shocks and
broken bones
.
At least four people were killed by the police.
25 thousand detained in 4 months
The reports of prestigious international NGOs such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch attest to this.
Lukashenko thus intended to quell the protests and it seems that he succeeded with the arrest, between August and mid-November, of more than
25,000 people.
The repression against the independent press was always brutal in Belarus but has worsened since August.
The Belarusian Journalists Association has documented more than 500 incidents in 2020.
The dictator of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.
Photo: dpa
The police were specifically looking for
journalists
who covered - and broadcast live - opposition demonstrations.
Several journalists were charged with "organizing group actions to disturb public order" or directly with "organizing terrorist activities."
International media journalists were not subjected to such repression, but at the end of August the government
withdrew accreditation
from the few foreign correspondents present in Minsk, those from the Associated Press, the BBC and Reuters.
European journalists who tried to enter Belarus had
their credentials denied
or were deported if they had entered posing as tourists.
A woman tries to talk to police officers during protests against the election results in Minsk.
Photo: EFE
Belarus is the only European country where
the death penalty continues to be used
.
In 2020, one person, Alexander Asipovich, was officially executed.
There are four people on death row.
All four have already seen their last appeals rejected and face
imminent
execution
.
The report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Belarus, Anaïs Marin, assures that there is no progress on human rights and that Belarus does not cooperate with her team or recognize her mandate.
Brussels, special
ap
Look also
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