Belarus Watch Thread

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Time_Traveller
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wjfox wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:43 am Vitaly Shishov: Head of Belarus exiles group found dead in Ukraine

31 minutes ago

The head of a group helping people flee Belarus has been found dead near his home in neighbouring Ukraine.

Vitaly Shishov's body was found hanged in a park in Kyiv, a day after he failed to return from a jog. Police have opened a murder inquiry.

Police said they were investigating whether he had been killed and his death made to look like suicide.

Mr Shishov led the Belarusian House in Ukraine, helping those who left Belarus after a violent crackdown.

Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania in particular have become favoured destinations for those fleeing persecution following a disputed presidential election in Belarus in August 2020.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58065313

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All we need to find out if Belarus itself had anything to do with his death as well.
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Re: Belarus Watch Thread

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Britain imposes new sanctions on Belarus - but President Lukashenko tells London to 'choke on them'

Monday 9 August 2021 14:15, UK

Britain has imposed sanctions on Belarus to put pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko over what it calls his regime's attempts to "crush democracy and violate human rights".

The economic sanctions targeting the country's state-owned banks also come alongside measures to prevent Belarusian air carriers from flying over or landing in the UK.

Mr Lukashenko dismissed the fresh sanctions by Britain, saying London could "choke on them".

https://news.sky.com/story/britain-impo ... m-12377248
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Belarus Sentences Top Opposition Figure to 11 Years in Prison
by Cain Burdeau
Septembet 7, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/belarus- ... in-prison/

Introduction:
(Courthouse News) — Maria Kolesnikova, a presidential candidate and leader of protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday on charges of seeking to overthrow the government.

Her harsh sentence was condemned by Western governments as unjust and the latest outrage by Lukashenko's regime in its crackdown on opposition figures.

Kolesnikova, 39, became the radiant and defiant face of mass street protests in Minsk following the presidential election of August 2020 that gave Lukashenko an improbably overwhelming victory. Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and has built around him a repressive regime.

Also sentenced on Monday by Minsk Regional Court was Maksim Znak, a lawyer and another leading member of the opposition council set up in the wake of the election to challenge Lukashenko's rule.

Their trial was held behind closed doors and defense lawyers were forbidden from speaking about the details of the proceedings.
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Re: Belarus Watch Thread

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Just another tin pot dictator trying to get nuclear weapons? This is VERY provocative...

Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status - agencies

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/la ... 022-02-27/
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Re: Belarus Watch Thread

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How stable is Belarus these days? Is the Russian sphere of influence about to have another domino fall?
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Russia ally Belarus brings in death penalty for high treason

Thu 9 Mar 2023 20.12 GMT

Belarus’s authoritarian president has signed a bill introducing capital punishment for state officials and military personnel convicted of high treason.

The amendments to the country’s criminal code endorsed by President Alexander Lukashenko envisage death sentences for officials and service personnel who cause “irreparable damage” to Belarus’s national security through acts of treason.

Belarus is the only country in Europe that has not banned capital punishment, which has been applied to those convicted of murder or terrorism. Executions are carried out with a shot to the back of the head.

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for nearly three decades, brutally suppressing dissent. Belarusian authorities unleashed a crackdown against demonstrators who protested against his re-election in an August 2020 vote that the opposition and the west denounced as rigged, detaining more than 35,000 and beating thousands.

On Monday, a Belarusian court sentenced Lukashenko’s main challenger in the election, exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, in absentia to 15 years in prison on charges including conspiring to overthrow the government. Last week, the country’s most prominent human rights advocate and 2022 Nobel peace prize laureate, Ales Bialiatski, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... gh-treason
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Wagner: Satellite images show activity at military base in Belarus

1 hour ago

Satellite images appear to show activity at a disused military base in Belarus, amid speculation about Wagner forces relocating to the country.

An image from 27 June obtained by BBC Verify, and first reported by Radio Free Europe, shows what could be tents or similar structures appearing at the base.

An earlier image taken on 19 June shows the fields within the military compound largely empty.

The Wagner group, which is made up of mercenaries, had been fighting for Russia in Ukraine until last weekend, when it staged a rebellion.

Its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, later called off an advance to Moscow after a deal was struck with the help of the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66052061


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Wagner Group Licks Its Wounds In Belarus
by Christopher M. Faulkner, Colin P. Clarke, and Raphael Parens
August 12, 2023

Introduction:
(Foreign Policy Research Institute) — Most analysts have labeled Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion and the Wagner Group mutiny a failure. And in many ways, that’s true. Indeed, Prigozhin and the contingent of Wagner fighters that eschewed signing contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence have reportedly been exiled to Belarus where Wagner appeared in recent weeks to be building a sprawling base south of Minsk. Meanwhile, Prigozhin has faced some setbacks. In addition to weathering scathing critiques from Russian state media, many of his assets were initially seized by Russian authorities, and he’s stood by helplessly as parts of his economic and media empire have slowly been commandeered or liquidated altogether.

Yet, in other ways, Prigozhin has emerged from this fiasco as a winner. Legal charges against him were dropped, he still boasts incredible wealth, and he even met with Putin soon after the short-lived mutiny fizzled out. And though technically exiled from Russia, Wagner’s asylum in Belarus has provided the mercenary outfit with the potential for a new lease on life. Its stated mission, at least for the time being, will be to train the Belarusian army and refocus its attention on overseas deployments to the Central African Republic, Mali, and other resource-rich fragile states. Video released on July 19 appeared to show Prigozhin along with a shadowy figure believed to be Dimitry Utkin, Wagner’s founding father, preaching to Wagner fighters about their renewed purpose and focus. But recent speculation has called into question just how long Wagner forces will be welcome in Belarussian territory
Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/12082023 ... nalysis/
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