{"id":11406,"date":"2022-04-29T10:28:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T07:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/belarusian-authorities-step-up-intimidation-of-political-opponents\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"belarusian-authorities-step-up-intimidation-of-political-opponents","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11406\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarusian authorities step up intimidation of political opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t * Reprinting prohibited\n<\/p>\n

\n Belarusian officials seek to expand the death penalty \u2013 execution by shooting \u2013 to cover attempted acts of terror. After the 2020 disputed presidential election Belarusian authorities have used terrorism charges to prosecute political opponents.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Those charged with terrorism-related offenses include Sviatlana Cichano\u016dskaja, a former presidential candidate who fled Belarus in 2020, and Paviel Latu\u0161ka, a former diplomat and the head of the National Anti-Crisis Management. Mikalaj A\u016dtuchovi\u010d, an outspoken critic of the government, is to go on trial on terrorism-related charges on May 16.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In a recent development, at least 11 people were arrested and charged with terrorism over attacks on railroad signaling equipment carried out in protest against Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The attacks on railroad infrastructure dubbed \u201cthe rail war\u201d were aimed at slowing down the movement of Russian equipment.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly, on April 27 passed a bill that would introduce capital punishment for attempted acts of terrorism, said the press office of the National Assembly. The bill has yet to be approved by the upper chamber and signed into law by Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka.\n<\/p>\n

Fabricated case against Cichano\u016dskaja<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Belarusian state-controlled television stations reported in March 2021 that security forces had thwarted a terrorist attack. The stations showed footage of an interrogation of Via\u010desla\u016d Maliej\u010duk, a Pinsk district resident, who said under duress that he had planted explosives to a street garbage bin in the outskirts of Minsk. The place seemed strange for a real terror attack but was quite convenient as a scene for filming a mock attack.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Three days later the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office instituted an attempted-act-of-terror case against an \u201corganized group\u201d that includes Cichano\u016dskaja and members of BYPOL, a group of former security officers in opposition to the government. Investigators alleged that the group had guided Maliej\u010duk.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t His trial is to open on May 6. During the interrogation, Maliej\u010duk mentioned an accomplice named Ja\u016dhien, but authorities have not reported any more arrests in the case.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Two days before Maliej\u010duk\u2019s arrest, BYPOL said that it had received intelligence that the Committee for State Security (KGB) had planned to stage an act of terror.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The case seems to have been fabricated with the only purpose to intimidate opposition leaders Cichano\u016dskaja and Latu\u0161ka.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Although criminal laws cannot be applied retroactively, prosecutors can bypass that restriction by opening new criminal cases against Lutu\u0161ka and others, said Arciom \u0160rajbman, a Belarusian political analyst.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cRail war\u201d<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Cichano\u016dskaja, Latu\u0161ka and others on the KGB list of suspected terrorists live abroad. Authorities are eager to arrest them but their extradition requests are likely to be rejected because the cases are seen as politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Last year, Belarusian security services forced a Ryanair plane that was flying from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk and arrested prominent journalist Raman Pratasievi\u010d.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t But the latest drive to expand the death penalty is an attempt to intimidate opponents in the country rather than exiled opposition leaders.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Officials are concerned about recent attacks on railway signaling equipment in protest against Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t At least 11 people have been arrested and charged with terrorism over attacks on railroad infrastructure dubbed \u201cthe rail war\u201d that were aimed at slowing down the movement of Russian troops and equipment.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The interior ministry reported that police shot three suspects during their arrest on March 30. An opposition Telegram channel of Belarusian railway workers noted that the men did not resist and appeared to have been shot in the knees on purpose.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Interior Minister Ivan Kurbako\u016d said on April 19 that traditional law enforcement methods had failed to deter criminals, so police had employed a combination of brutal arrests and media campaigns. A video of men with gunshot wounds was released by a social media account associated with the Belarusian authorities.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Earlier this month, Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka criticized the interior minister for a low detection rate for “extremism” crimes and directed the law enforcement agencies to redouble their efforts.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Authorities are likely to use extremism and terrorism charges more often in the fight against political opponents.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t On April 21, police in Minsk arrested D\u017amitryj \u017duk, a senior economic theory and marketing lecturer at Belarusian State Technological University, on suspicion of involvement in terrorism financing. He allegedly reimbursed protesters for their expenses on fines using cash raised through solidarity funds.\n<\/p>\n

Luka\u0161enka\u2019s limited choice of tools<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t After 2020 post-election protests, authorities rushed a number of laws through the parliament to introduce harsher punishment for various offenses in an effort to suppress any manifestations of dissent.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t With approval ratings low and economic problems looming, intimidation seems to be the only tool that Luka\u0161enka can use to keep himself in power.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN * Reprinting prohibited Belarusian officials seek to expand the death penalty \u2013 execution by shooting \u2013 to cover attempted acts of terror. After the 2020 disputed presidential election Belarusian authorities have used terrorism charges to prosecute political opponents. Those charged with terrorism-related offenses include Sviatlana Cichano\u016dskaja, a former presidential candidate who fled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11406","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelarusian authorities step up intimidation of political opponents | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN * Reprinting prohibited Belarusian officials seek to expand the death penalty \u2013 execution by shooting \u2013 to cover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11406\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarusian authorities 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