Belarus is home to the last autocratic dictator Europe. President Alexander Lukashenko is the first and only president that the country has had.

Lukashenko has been holding on to power for 27 years and is increasingly brazen in his undermining of democracy as well as human and civil rights. The hijacking of a Ryanair flight and capture of opposition journalist Roman Protasevich on 23 May shocked politicians across Europe, such as Green MEP Terry Reintke and Green MP Samuel Cogolati who called for his release.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of Belarus’ democratic opposition, states in an interview that: “We just want to live in a democratic country and build open and transparent trade relationships with all neighbouring countries and others. We are not against Russia. We are against dictatorship.” She is the wife of the now imprisoned activist Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was an electoral candidate before his arrest on 29 May 2020.

Fighting for the Release of Political Prisoners

There are currently 529 recognised political prisoners in Belarus according to the Viasna human rights centre, and the actual number is likely to be higher. They contain journalists, former presidential candidates, and activists but also students, academics, and other civilians attending pro-democracy protests. Just recently, music teacher Hanna Vazhnik was sentenced to 1 year of restricted freedom for a joke about the state anthem of Belarus. “In Lukashenka’s Belarus, there is no freedom of any kind. And the punishment for having an opinion is severe,” says Tsikhanouskaya.

In a recent statement, the Belarusian Green Party has detailed instances of riot officers disguising themselves as plainclothes officers, and illegally monitoring and abducting youth activists. Most concerning is that police have not been allowing young people to get in contact with their relatives to inform them of their whereabouts.

Not only have their detainments been illegal, but their trials have been unfair – often occurring behind closed doors. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been monitoring the situation and observed 12 of the trials. They have called for substantial justice reform and are also concerned about human rights violations in the country. According to Amnesty International, the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and the right to health are under threat.

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