The human rights protection organization “Vyasna” reports that the searches carried out on January 23 were aimed at the families of political prisoners and recently released political prisoners. Activists report that the Belarusian security service detained or interrogated at least 160 people in one day.
“The European Union strongly condemns the recent wave of repression against the former political prisoners who remained in Belarus, as well as the relatives of political prisoners,” said the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Jozeps Borrell.
The raids took place before the so-called parliamentary elections to be held in February. It will be the first major election show since 2020, when Belarus was gripped by mass protests that erupted after the presidential election. Once again, the authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner. Both the Belarusian opposition and the West believe that the election results were rigged. Belarusian authorities harshly suppressed the demonstrations, arresting more than 35,000 people and brutally beating thousands. Dozens of rights groups and independent media outlets were also shut down.
There will be no real opposition in the parliamentary elections scheduled for February 25 either.
Brussels said Lukashenko’s regime is continuing “deplorable tactics of intimidation and repression against its critics and potential political opponents ahead of February’s ‘elections'”.
“Vyasna” stated that it has information on “at least 160 people” whose residences were searched, who were detained or questioned. “Not everyone was released (after interrogation), rights activists are clarifying the fate of the detainees,” the organization reports, noting that searches have been carried out across the country.
According to “Vyasna” news, security authorities detained 70 women in Brest near the Polish border. The information available to the organization shows that there are currently 1,419 political prisoners in Belarus.
“Vyasna” reports that the security services were looking for foreign bank accounts and that the searches could be related to people receiving help from exile organizations that support the families of prisoners.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Cihanouska, who lives in exile in Lithuania, thanked the EU for its “strong solidarity and support for the people of Belarus” and called on the world to “react to another wave of intimidation”.
She called the raids “revenge for those who love our country.” Cihanouska said that the wife of the imprisoned opposition politician Mikalaj Statkevich, Marina Adamoviča, was sentenced to 15 days of arrest. The 76-year-old rights activist Boriss Hamaida was also detained.
After the suppression of protests in 2020, tens of thousands of people fled Belarus, mainly to neighboring Poland and Lithuania.
2024-01-25 16:51:36
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