Next year, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko will run for another presidential term. The independent portal “Nasha Niva” writes that the security forces have already been tasked with filtering everyone who might protest before or during the elections.
Elections presidential on Belarus were scheduled for February next year. The services are already specially preparing for them – the independent portal “Nasha Niwa” writes about the situation in the country (a newspaper with this name was previously published, but it was closed down by the authorities in 2022).
The services are to “filter” anyone who might protest before the presidential elections or during the voting, said one of Nasha Niva's interlocutors. He added that the services had prepared two lists, “the first and the second”. – The first group included those who had previously been convicted on administrative or criminal charges. The second list includes people who have not been previously prosecuted for political reasons, but are considered potentially disloyal and politically active, said the “Nasha Niva” interlocutor.
“Testing” bets
Control of people on the first list is to start in the fall. However, the most severe repression is planned for December-January, i.e. closer to the voting day, so that no one “would even breathe a wink” before the elections, said another interlocutor to an independent portal.
Before the elections, there will also be “testing” of companies, which will involve listening in on employees' telephone conversations and detaining them in their workplaces.
– The task of the security forces is to ensure that the elections take place “without the slightest incident”, that is, that no one even tries to put up protest leaflets, demands a recount of votes or publicly opposes Lukashenko's candidacy – said the “Nasha Niva” interlocutor.
After the 2020 elections
After the presidential elections in August 2020 in Belarus Protests by Lukashenko's opponents broke outwho claimed that the voting results were falsified.
According to the official results at that time, Lukashenko, who was seeking his fifth re-election, “clearly” won in the first round (80.01 percent of support). Opposition candidate Swiatlana Tsikhanouskayawhich enjoyed great public support, was to receive only 10.1 percent of the votes.
According to Belarusian defenders human rights from the Viasna organization, post-election repression continues to this day. Currently, there are over 1,200 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons and detention centers.
One of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition Paweł Łatuszka estimates that since 2020, the repression has affected over 136,000 people, and several hundred thousand Belarusians have been forced to leave the country. Among them are famous oppositionists, such as Tsikhanouskaya. Latushka also does not live in Belarus.
Our Niva, Viasna, The Moscow Times
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/BELARUSIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT