This week: Belarus regime is hijacking planes, cracking down on journalists, allowing police to use firearms on demonstrators & more
Top Stories May 23: Ryanair flight carrying wanted Belarusian journalist forced to land in Minsk
To arrest Raman Pratasevich, an exiled opposition journalist, Belarusian security forces hijacked an Irish airliner registered in Poland and flying from Greece to Lithuania. Right before Ryanair flight FR4978 could cross into Lithuanian airspace, Belarusian authorities used a combination of a fake bomb threat, instructions from Minsk air traffic control, and a military MiG-29 fighter jet to force the plane to land in Minsk.
Long Live Belarus - Artist: Lilia Kvatsabaya
Top Story The Human Rights Center Viasna reports that 17 years old Mikita Zalatarou, suffering from epilepsy, has been kept in solitary confinement in Belarusian prison. May 15, Mikita was “rearrested” and accused of an alleged “assault” of a prison employee. Mikita told his parents that he “won’t last in an isolation cell much longer.” In February 2021, the Belarusian authorities sentenced Mikita to 5 years in a correctional colony.
Video made with support of Peace, Justice, and Human Rights Initiative of Florida Atlantic University
Belarus and US May 3: US envoy Julie Fisher interview about Lukashenka and on state of Journalism
The US Ambassador to Belarus, Julie Fisher, gave an extended interview to the news agency Belsat. She explained why she does not reside in Minsk and discussed the official status of Lukashenka, the possibility of Tsikhanouskaya visit to the United States, and the potential danger of Russian occupation of Belarus.
Top Stories Women march on the outskirts of Minsk in memory of Chernobyl
Several dozen women, dressed in black and carrying black umbrellas and yellow and black ribbons, staged a demonstration in memory of the Chernobyl disaster in the Malinauka district on the outskirts of Minsk, where many of the families evacuated from the disaster area were settled. Later in the day, military and police forces flooded Minsk downtown and arrested about 20 people.
Top Story Lukashenko to amend emergency transfer of presidential power
The Belarusian dictator is changing the procedure of the power transfer in case the president is unable to perform their duties. Under current law, the presidential power transfers to the prime minister. By the new decree, Lukashenka promised to sign the presidential powers would be transferred to the Security Council. The new head of the Security Council is Aliaksandr Valfovich, a military general.
Future - Artist: Lilia Kvatsabaya
Top Story Belarusian KGB detains leader of opposition party, Political analyst
U.S.-Belarusian lawyer ‘abducted’ in Moscow, transferred to Minsk
Russian FSB detains two individuals plotting coup in Belarus, assassination of Lukashenka
In a story developing over the week, Belarusian and Russian security services detained three individuals alleged to have been plotting a military coup in Belarus and an assassination of Belarus’ dictatorLukashenka. These alleged assassination plotters included: Yuri Zyankovich, a dual Belarus and US Citizen and a former activist who immigrated to the US in 2007 to become an immigration lawyer; Alexander Feduta, a literary critic and a political analyst, who was a member of the first Lukashenka election campaign back in 1994; Ryhor Kastusiou, leader of the BPF Party.
Svetlana is My President (left); Demonstration (right) - Artist: Rufina Bazlova
Top Stories Israeli phone hacking firm stops sales to Belarus and Russia
Cellebrite, an Israeli digital intelligence company, decided to cease business relations with the Russian and Belarusian governments. Reports have surfaced that the state security forces use Celebrite software to spy on political opposition. The company announcement underlines its desire to operate “according to accepted international rules and regulations.
Older people impacted by Belarus state repression - read in Other.
Top Stories Soft annexation: Inside the Russian takeover of Belarus
Russia is getting plans underway for the takeover of Belarus. Unlike Georgia and Ukraine, the strategy is not to use military operations but instead rely on economic methods to achieve similar goals. By forcing tighter integration and absorbing key Belarusian assets, Russia is executing a soft annexation policy in “plain sight”.
Let’s help people find and kick bandits out of the city. Artwork, Minsk.
BELARUS Mar 22: “He cut my underwear. Then he did what he did”. They wanted democracy. Instead they say they were beaten and raped by police
CNN conducted dozens of interviews with the Belarusian protesters who went through the persecutions and torture. A blood-chilling story of Sergei, the Belarusian who was detained, beaten, arrested, and fearing the subsequent imminent arrest had to flee the country illegally crossing the Belarus-Ukraine border.
BELARUS Artivism before Freedom Day near the building of the National Art Museum in Minsk
Mar 15: Multinational firms under pressure to break ties with Belarus
International firms like the German giant engineering company Siemens and Norwegian agro-giant Yara are increasingly the targets of massive online criticism campaigns over their business in Belarus. Their social media has been swamped with appeals not to “support violence and torture in Belarus” and stop dealing with the dictator.
