Democracy under threat

In a statement released today, the leader of democratic Belarus Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called to dedicate February 9 to a Day of Solidarity with Belarus.

The days marks one and a half years since the authoritarian leadership of Belarus falsified the elections, subsequently forcing the leaders of the democratic opposition, including Ms. Tsikhanouskaya, to flee the country.

During these 18 months, the repression and crackdown against the civil society, democratic movement and journalists have increased. With over 1.000 political prisoners kept in jail by order of dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko, the authoritarianism and use of force have reached unprecedented levels.

The Day of Solidarity with Belarus will mainly focus to bring attention and support for “free media, journalists, bloggers and all those who tell the truth about the situation in the country”, according to a statement from the office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. The Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation once again reiterates the long time support from the Foundation for the democratic movement in the country.

As the leaders of Russia and China met in Beijing yesterday, the two authoritarian leaders issued a statement indicating a stronger relationship between their two countries. The leaders emphasized falsely that the “West should abandon the ideologized approaches of the Cold War”, ignoring the fact that the ongoing European security order crisis stems directly from the Russian aggression towards Ukraine. 

In an immediate response, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen reiteraded the European unity and support for a sovereign and independent Ukraine. In an interview with German newspapers, ms. von der Leyen confirmed that the EU has prepared a broad set of sanctions if Ukraine is invaded by Russia. “We have prepared a robust and comprehensive package of financial and economic sanctions”, von der Leyen told German newspaper Handelsblatt on February 4.

If Russia breaches the border to Ukraine, the United Kingdom will not hesitate to impose sanctions immediately, Boris Johnson declared at a press conference that was held in Kyiv yesterday. The prime minister made clear to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and that a Russian invasion would be a political, humanitarian and military disaster.

The prime minister also emphasized United Kingdom’s commitment to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine within its borders, in the face of an ongoing Russian aggression.

More than a year has passed since Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition movement, returned to Moscow after the attempted murder and got subsequently got arrested. Navalny is at present in jail, and the Russian authorities aim to do everything in their power to dismantle any potential opposition movement.

According to Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service, Alexei Navalny and several of his top aides, are now considered to be terrorists or extremists because of their actions in opposition. This comes after the decision by Russian authorities to ban Navalny’s anti corruption foundation. The decision today, labeling Navalny’s aides as extremists and terrorist has been widely criticized by the United States and the European Union. 

On Christmas Day, it was announced that the Russian government had issued an order to block the website of Russian NGO OVD-Info. OVD-Info is a renowned organisation in the Russian civil society, mainly focusing on following and monitoring persecution of anti-Kremlin protesters.

After being declared as a foreign agent in September of 2021, the organisation has experienced continuous pressure and resistance from the Russian authorities. The founder of the organisation said in a statement shortly after the website was blocked, that this was the result “of the pressure campaign against independent organizations and media.”

The action has not yet been condemned by the European Union, nor the United States. 

The leading Belarusian opposition figure Siarhei Tsikhanouski was today sentenced to 18 years in Belarusian prison. Tsikhanouski, who was arrested in May 2020 shortly after announcing his candidacy for the presidency of Belarus, was convicted of “organizing mass unrest”, a sweeping claim put forward by the Lukashenka controlled court. 

After the arrest of Tsikhanouski last year, his wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya replaced him as the leading opposition candidate in the presidential election. In a statement released today, shortly after her husband was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Tsikhanouskaya said: “The dictator publicly takes revenge on his strongest opponent. While hiding the political prisoners in closed trials, he hopes to continue repressions in silence. But the whole world watches. We won’t stop”. 

As the Russian aggression towards Ukraine is continuously increasing, as the support to Belarus dictator Lukashenko, the Kremlin crackdown on the civil society and the democratic forces of Russia is also increasing. After years of suppressing whats is left of the democratic institutions in the country, the main target of the Kremlin this week is the NGO Memorial. Memorial, Russia’s oldest and perhaps most renowned civil rights group, has worked since 1989 to preserve and present memories of the atrocitites that faced the Russian people under the Soviet rule.

Now being described as a ”foreign agent” – and with Russian government agencies falsely claiming that Memorial has failed to label itself that properly – the NGO is facing legal charges. This week, Russian courts will decide whether or not to liquidate the whole organisation. This intervention has been condemned by the European Union, the United States and is yet another example of the authoritarian development which is proceeding in Russia, all orchestrated by Vladimir Putin.

The crackdown on the Belarusian democratic movement, which dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko accelerated after last years stolen elections in the country, is accelerating. With further international sanctions aimed at the dictatorship, Lukashenko keeps responding by punishing his own people.

According to Franak Viacorka, senior advisor to leader of democratic Belarus Sviatala Tsikhanouskaya, a woman was detained some days ago in Minsk. The reason behind her arrest was a light she had lit in her window in mourning of murdered protester Raman Bandarenka, at the anniversary of his death. This is yet another example of the methods of the regime. The EU and the United States have jointly adopted several sanctions aimed at the regime, and the European Commission has not ruled out further sanctions in the near future.