The 9th of August represents a bitter memory for the people of Belarus, as it marks the second anniversary of the rigged reelection, which saw Alexander Lukashenko renewing his term as President, officially with 80% of the vote.

For the last two years, political repression has been on the rise in this Eastern European country, often referred to as Europe’s latest old-school dictatorship. 

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For example, a Belarusian court recently sentenced Belsat TV journalist  Iryna Slaunikava to five years in jail for setting up an “extremist” group and organising mass unrest.  

The Committee to Protect Journalists referred to the sentencing as “another example of the Belarusian government’s deeply cynical and vindictive nature.”

Slaunikava’s sentence came just a few weeks after another Belsat journalist, Katsiaryna Andreyeva, was handed a new prison term following the one she was already serving for reporting on the historically large protests that followed the country’s 2020 rigged presidential election. 

Back in August 2020, Andreyeva was sentenced to two years in jail for organising “mass unrest”. 

Once arrested, political prisoners are subjected to harsh treatments, including physical and psychological tortures. They are generally unable to find proper legal representation, given the authorities’ reprisals against defence lawyers. 

Many of them have been stripped of their law licences – and sometimes jailed themselves – because they had the audacity to represent prisoners or opposition figures.

According to the US State Department, Belarus currently holds over 1,000 political prisoners. 

Image: Unsplash

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen