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Shooting of a so-called »announcer« in Minsk last week.
Christina Hebel, DER SPIEGEL
"The mood here in Minsk is such that you get the impression that there have never been any protests ..."
Such a spin can quickly become dangerous.
Christina Hebel is a SPIEGEL correspondent in Russia.
She came back from Belarus a few days ago.
We can reach you in the Moscow office via video call.
She will tell us how it is currently possible to report from the land of the authoritarian ruler Lukashenko.
Moscow, Russia
Christina Hebel, DER SPIEGEL
“It's a, yes, very depressing atmosphere.
When you talk to people about the situation, everyone says that they are afraid, that fear is now ubiquitous.
The pressure on the independent media in Belarus is enormous now. «
In Minsk, Christina visited the mother of the imprisoned journalist Yelena Tolkacheva.
Christina Hebel, DER SPIEGEL
»Jelena Tolkacheva,
a politics editor from the online portal Tut.by has been sitting there for a few weeks.
Jelena Tolkacheva is accused of having evaded taxes on a large scale.
Which is really an absurd charge.
Because she is a simple employee of the online medium, a journalist too.
And her mother really says it's so absurd that she doesn't really know what to do next.
She also has no contact with her daughter.
You can't talk to prisoners on the phone.
You can't visit them either. "
It is no coincidence that the Belarusian regime is currently taking action against Tut.by.
The online magazine has now been blocked.
Before that, it reached almost two thirds of Belarusian internet users.
Tut.by reported in detail on the case of the blogger Roman Protassewitsch, who is imprisoned in the prison of the KGB secret service.
The 26-year-old was recently shown on state television - in a macabre so-called »interview«.
Roman Protassevich's parents regularly turn to Western media to be heard at all:
Natalja Protassewitsch, mother of Roman Protassewitsch
“You can arrest me, just let my son go. It is the worst agony for a parent, for a mother, to see her child tormented. I'm lost for words."
Dmitri Protassewitsch, father of Roman Protassewitsch
»We are worried about our son - and about all political prisoners. For us these two weeks were hell. I can't even imagine how people are doing whose relatives and loved ones have been in prison for a year or more. "
Christina Hebel, DER SPIEGEL
»If you ask people about the case of Roman Protassewitsch,
many say that it is one of many blatant. The news is now very depressing. A father told me that his son, who was an activist, is being tortured in one of the courtyards in Minsk. Actually, in his cell there is a mentally ill person who has abused him every day. At some point his son tried to kill himself because he was so desperate, because he was also put under pressure. This case caused quite a stir because it shows how strong the pressure is now on people who are in custody as political prisoners. "
Employees of the online media TUT.BY were regularly arrested after reporting on protests against the government and police violence. There is great concern about the integrity of informants and contacts - as Christina describes during her research on site:
Minsk, Belarus
Christina Hebel, DER SPIEGEL
“Then it is so that we mostly met conspiratorially, so to speak, went for a walk in the woods. Or in apartments, where we went on conspiratorial routes, met through contacts there, after we went for another walk. These are all precautionary measures so that nobody is endangered here and receives visits from the authorities. Because the penalties are really very, very big now, and so is the risk of getting caught. The pressure is working, because a lot has now, so to speak, shifted underground. You organize yourself in Telegram groups and discuss your actions. Yes - and how long it will all take is a question. "
According to the independent Belarusian Union of Journalists, 27 journalists are currently in custody; 75 arrests have already been made this year.
