Ales Bialiatski: The situation in Belarus is now the most tragic and critical
Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski states: Belarus is experiencing the darkest period in its recent history — "the most tragic time since Stalin."
Ales Bialiatski. Photo from Viasna Human Rights Center's Telegram
Three months after his release, during a meeting in Prague, Bialiatski gave a bitter diagnosis of the current state of Belarus, writes the Czech publication "Aktualne".
"I was expelled three months ago, it was against my will. One day I was woken up at four in the morning. My eyes were blindfolded, I was handcuffed, and we drove through the territory to the west towards the Polish border, where I was, in essence, thrown out," he says, noting that due to the violent and forced expulsion, the International Criminal Court has also initiated criminal proceedings against Lukashenka's regime.
"Many people who retained their conscience knew that we must insist on our moral values. In Belarus, unfortunately, a very harsh dictatorship has gradually formed over the past 30 years. In 2020, mass protests took place in the country, aimed at Lukashenka's resignation and fair elections. The regime's reaction was mass interrogations and repressions," recalls Bialiatski, who became one of three Nobel Peace Prize laureates in 2022.
The End of Human Rights Organizations and Journalists
Thousands of people ended up in prisons after the repressions, and all human rights organizations and independent journalists were banned. They were forced to cease their activities or leave the country; now they can no longer work legally in Belarus, the human rights defender describes the terrifying situation in the country.
"It is impossible to operate legally within Belarusian society, and the repressions that began in 2021 are still ongoing. According to our records and human rights data, there are at least 1,150 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons. New political trials, detentions, and imprisonments are constantly happening, while the number of political prisoners does not decrease," he warns.
In February of this year, the persecution campaign focused on the cultural community. The Belarusian PEN Center was declared an extremist organization, meaning that all writers who are its members are automatically considered participants in an extremist group. Among the organization's members is another Nobel laureate – in literature – Svetlana Alexievich.
Several founders of independent publishing houses that published literature in Belarusian have been imprisoned. The persecution also affected translators and teachers who teach in Belarusian.
According to him, the destabilization of EU member countries bordering Belarus continues through managed illegal migration, where the state apparatus transports migrants to the borders with Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia. Part of these provocations also includes the mass launch of balloons towards the Polish and Lithuanian borders, as well as the deployment of Russian missiles and nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
"The situation in Belarus is now the most tragic and critical in its modern history, probably since Stalin's death. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians with differing opinions have had to leave the country," says Bialiatski.
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