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Aleksandr Lukashenko does not want uncomfortable journalists on the road. The protests in Belarus are putting pressure on his regime and he wants people to hear only the false version of the media loyal to the government. To achieve his goal, the “last dictator of Europe” has had to cancel the accreditation of reporters working for foreign newspapers: journalists from the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Reuters news agencies, France-Presse and Associated Press, Radio Liberty and German TV Ard were deprived of the right to inform, and Belarusian citizens of the right to be informed. In fact, some of these reporters worked in Russian and therefore also addressed the Belarusian public. But Lukashenko does not want witnesses: to stay in power he has decided to portray as dangerous extremists the people who protest against his “Bulgarian victory” in the presidential elections on August 9 as dangerous extremists and does not want to be contradicted.
The regime has already used its hard fist against peaceful protesters. The police often suppressed the marches with truncheons and arrested thousands of protesters. Hundreds of people were injured in the clashes and at least three people died. In recent weeks, several journalists have ended up in prison and some have reported on the inhumane treatment reserved for protesters behind bars. Now it seems that Lukashenko is preparing a second offensive against the press. In recent days, the police have arrested dozens of reporters and three reporters from German television Ard have spent a night on the air before being released. Obviously, under the sword of Damocles are also the non-aligned Belarusian warheads. The co-founder of the online newspapers Kyky.org and The Village Belarus, Aleksandr Vasilievich, has been arrested and it is not known when he will be free. Furthermore, according to the Belarusian Journalists Association, four journalists who had refused to delete some materials collected from their mobile phones were taken to a prison and accused of participating in an unauthorized demonstration.
It is not clear exactly how many journalists lack accreditation. The BBC reports on “at least ten local reporters and several Russians” working for international newspapers. “It is another sign that this regime is absolutely devoid of moral principles,” said Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition leader who many believe is the real winner of the presidential elections and who was forced to emigrate to Lithuania after the vote. . Lukashenko’s new attack on press freedom was also criticized by the US embassy in Belarus and by Paolo Gentiloni: “When a government fires foreign journalists, there is something to worry about,” the EU commissioner wrote on Twitter. Economy. On the other hand, no condemnation has come from Russia, which, fearing that Minsk will slip out of its sphere of influence, has currently aligned itself with its former ally Lukashenko, even threatening to intervene by force “if necessary”. Putin was one of the first to congratulate Lukashenko on the controversial re-election and today reiterated that the Kremlin considers the highly controversial presidential elections of three weeks ago to be “valid”.
Lukashenko has been in power for 26 years. Putin for 20 years, and according to some observers he fears like never before massive protests like those in Minsk in Russia. Between the emergence of the coronavirus and the economic problems, the Kremlin leader has reached a record low of popularity, 60%. It is not a very low figure, but it is far from the 90% reached six years ago, after the annexation of Crimea. The timing is delicate, to the point where there are those who suspect that the alleged poisoning of Aleksey Navalny, the promoter of the most important anti-Putin protests in recent years, has now not happened by chance. In September, local elections are held in various regions of the country and now in Russia anti-government demonstrations are no longer limited to Moscow and St. Petersburg. For more than a month and a half in Khabarovsk, in the Russian Far East, thousands of people have taken to the streets chanting slogans against Putin to challenge the arrest of Sergey Furgal: the now former regional governor accused of having ordered the murder of some businessmen ago 15 years, but according to his supporters victim of a political conspiracy. In Khabarovsk, however, there are now also protests against Navalny’s alleged poisoning, perhaps from a cup of tea the dissident drank at a Siberian airport. “Putin, have a cup of tea,” the protesters shouted in chorus yesterday. It is not a good sign for the Russian president.
