Episode 9: Political prisoners and human rights abuses The Story of Belarus

Belarus under Alyaksandr Lukashenka has become notorious for the regime’s imprisonment of opposition actors and especially political challengers. Throughout the years of his rule – but especially starting after 2000 – the topic of political prisoners in Belarus became a very important one, especially for Western countries and their negotiations with the regime.

In this episode, we get to hear the voice of Andrei Sannikov – who ran for president in 2010 against Lukashenka in a falsified election; after Lukashenka declared victory – Sannikov, along with other opposition figures, was beaten and arrested. After his release in 2012, he has left the country and has become a prominent voice in human rights and the situation of the political prisoners in the country. Sannikov also talks about the repressions since the August 2020 election and how they are unprecedented, even for this already brutal regime.

Host: Adam Reichardt

Guest: Andrei Sannikov, human rights activist, former presidential candidate in Belarus (2010) who was detained and tortured as a political prisoner. He was released after 16 months under pressure from the international community.

Further resources:
Viasna (Spring) Human Rights organization: http://spring96.org/en
Silencing Dissent. The plight of political prisoners in Eastern Europe. New Eastern Europe 5/2016. https://neweasterneurope.eu/product/issue-5-2016/

Political prisoners in Belarus, 2020: International Strategic Action Network for Security. https://isans.org/palitviazni/?lang=eng