the Belarusian people did not win. Podcast “Handsome” – about the protests in Belarus through the eyes of the security forces
Two and a half years of the President have passed since the last elections in Belarus. But until now, every day since August 2020, when mass protests, the Belarusian authorities behind dozens of people. In November 2022 alone, more than 350 Belarusians were detained, at least 95 of them were detained. As of December 30, 1,452 people were victims of conflicts in Belarus.
Despite a large number of people already in the mood for protests and tens of thousands who have left the country, the repression of Belarus is intensifying. Here are just a few of the cases.
If at first, for participation in world marches and protests, detainees were sentenced to administrative punishment – arrest for a day or a fine, then in 2022, for the same protests after the presidential elections, they are tried under criminal articles. The highest sentences themselves are increased: entrepreneur Nikolai Autukhovich received 25 years, his associates – from 2.5 to 20 years, human rights activist Marfa Rabkova – 15 years in prison, former investigator of the UK Evgeny Yushkevich – 11 years.
Repressions against journalists and lawyers continued. Yes, investigative reporters Denis Ivashin and Sergey Satsuk were defeated by 13 and eight years in prison, respectively, the journalist Irina Slavnikova and military analyst Egor Lebedka sentenced to five years in prison, Radio Liberty journalist Andrey Grasshopper – to six years in a penal colony. Employees of an independent agency BelaPANreviews a term of 4 to 14 years in prison. Belsat journalist Katerina Andreeva was sentenced to eight years and three months in a colony due to illness for treason against the state at a time when she was already serving a sentence – two years for streaming from “Square of Changes” in Minsk. In September 2022, Katerina was supposed to be released, but in the near future the court issued her a second sentence.
As of December 1, 2022, by data human rights center “Viasna”, six lawyers became recognized political prisoners, several defendants in elected and criminal cases, more than 70 were deprived of their license and about 250 after the protests in 2020 decided to abandon the profession. In some regions of Belarus, let’s assume that there are none left at all.
With regard to some activists and leaders of the democratic movement outside of Belarus, Lukashenka’s authorities specifically began criminal proceedings, followed by trials in absentia. The first such trial took place against the two-time Olympic vice-champion Alexandra Gerasimenya and the executive director of the Sports Solidarity Fund Alexander Opeykin – the Belarusian judged them on 12 years in prison under the article on actions against national security due to calls for sanctions against Belarus.
Despite thousands of protest marches across the country in August 2020, the Belarusian people did not win, says the podcast “Handsome”. The war of the security forces against the people in Belarus in August 2020″ is about the protests of the security forces themselves after the presidential elections: not only about their training and violence, but also about their fears and weaknesses, about how everyone looks outwardly.
Podcast with recordings of conversations of security officials during protests in Belarus disclosed Belarusian service of Radio Liberty.
Listen to all episodes of the podcast
“Handsome” Alexander Lukashenko called the security forces guarding his residence during the protest march on August 23, 2020. On that day, a rally of thousands took place in Minsk, which brought together more than 100,000 people. The protesters approached Lukashenka’s residence, but the security forces blocked their way. Since then, the word “beautiful” has become a household word in Belarus.
Episode 1. How Lukashenka prepared the security forces for the election day
The first part of the “Handsome” podcast tells about the unprecedented presidential election campaign, during which the Belarusian expedition has faith in victory over authoritarianism, as well as how the security forces find themselves holding back the rise of the people.
Episode 2. How the Belarusians got out of control
The second episode of the podcast tells about election day, August 9, 2020, when Belarusians went en masse to vote against authoritarianism and human votes, as well as how Minsk and other Belarusian cities became the arena of hostilities for the first time after World War II.
Episode 3. Who ordered the torture of Belarusians
The third part of the podcast is about two days after the elections on August 9, 2020, when violent actions took place between security forces and protesters in Minsk and other cities of Belarus. Negotiations of the chiefs of militia, obtained by “Cyberpartisans”, are confessed as eight voices about the violent dispersal of the protest.
Episode 4. How Belarusian women scared the security forces
In the fourth part of the podcast – about the change in tactics of the security forces after two hundred Belarusians came out in white clothes, with flowers in their hands at the Komarovsky market in Minsk. The conversation of the police authorities of prevention received by the “Cyberpartisans” about why the security forces for some time abandoned the crime.
Episode 5. A week that could change everything in Belarus
In the fifth part of the podcast – about the appointment of security forces during the week of euphoria of Belarusians in August 2020, when people believed that change was possible. The week that began with Lukashenka’s visit to a factory in Minsk and ended with his arrival with a machine gun at the Palace of Independence was a turning point in the history of the protest.
Episode 6. Why the Belarusian people did not win
The sixth part of the podcast tells about thousands of protest marches in Minsk, about the reaction of the security forces to them and about the beginning of mass repressions against Belarusians, which have not stopped until now.
Where to listen to the podcast “Handsome”