Sviatlana tsikhanouskaya

Tens of thousands of protesters out on the streets of Minsk week after week as summer turned into autumn, often enough with their children and pets in tow; women aged 18 to 80 facing off against masked riot police at women's marches; a president in fatigues bearing an unloaded assault rifle in front of his presidential palace; and as autumn turned to winter smaller groups of protesters marching around their snowy neighborhoods. Those are set to be the defining images of the most serious challenge to Alexander Lukashenko's quarter century in office. By the summer of 2020 Belarusians had long come to expect unfair elections from their government. They had seen violent arrests and stun grenades used on the streets of Minsk after previous elections, but none of that had prepared them for what Belarusian political analyst Artyom Shraibman described to DW as a "level of brutality" unseen in the country since World War II. 'A moral not a political protest' After polls closed on … [Read more...] about Belarus: Protesters in for the long haul as standoff continues

Belarus remains under the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko six months after contentious elections, as public protests against the outcome persist. Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to pull the issue back into the spotlight this week in her video podcast, outlining her government's "action plan [for the] civil society of Belarus." Merkel said she had come to admire the "unshakable" nature of the opposition protesters in the face of sometimes violent government repression. Providing refuge for politicians or activists fleeing the country would make up a core component of the German action plan, she said. "With it, persecuted opposition and people in humanitarian need will be more easily able to receive visas and asylum with us," Merkel said. "We want to help traumatized victims of torture but also to provide scholarships or grants and to support independent media." Watch video 01:47 Share Belarus protests Send Facebook Twitter … [Read more...] about Germany’s ‘action plan’ to support opposition in Belarus

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday announced that a set of constitutional changes, demanded for months by the country's opposition , would be drafted later this year and put to a nationwide vote in early 2022. Lukashenko and 2,700 pro-government delegates gathered in a special assembly to discuss political reform and socio-economic development of the former Soviet republic for the next five years. The strongman leader said the officials should "reflect" on wide-reaching legal changes. "During this year, the draft Constitution will be ready and will be discussed by society. And early next year it will be voted on in a referendum," he said. No critic of the regime was invited to the two-day congress. Hints of departure In front of his assembly of loyalists, Lukashenko declared that Belarus "must remain a presidential republic" even after the end of his rule. He said there would be a Belarus without him at some point, but "not today, not tomorrow, not … [Read more...] about Belarus: Lukashenko hints at leaving but ‘not today’