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Ivan Tertel, who has been appointed head of the KGB and until now has been head of the State Audit Office, reported the state news agency BelTA and the channel of the Telegram platform Pul pervogo, related to the press service of the presidency.
In this post, he replaced Valery Vakulchik, who has now been appointed Secretary of State of the Belarusian Security Council.
Reviewers see these appointments as Lukashenko’s desire to further tighten state control.
“This is part of an obvious trend towards strengthening the police state,” said Alexander Klaskovsky, an independent political expert based in Minsk. “The repression will intensify.”
Lukashenko has undergone changes in important structures in the country for the fourth consecutive week in protests at his re-election to a six-year term. The opposition and the western countries consider that these elections are rigged and demand a new vote.
The 66-year-old former president of the collective farm, which has ruled 9.5 million people with an iron fist for 26 years. Named the “last dictator in Europe”, the protesters are called Western puppets and refuse to negotiate with them.
Valerijus Vakulčikas (standing)
In the first days of the protests after the presidential elections, the militia arrested almost 7,000. people and brutally beat hundreds of protesters. The brutal actions of the power structures have been strongly condemned by the international community and have further fueled the protests. Subsequently, the authorities changed tack and took steps to suppress the protests through threats, targeted arrests of protesters, and prosecution of activists.
The Interior Ministry said 24 people were arrested Wednesday for participating in unauthorized protests. They may be subject to fines or up to 15 days of administrative detention.
Belarusian prosecutors have targeted the leaders of the protest movement and launched a criminal investigation against the Opposition Coordination Council to take charge of the peaceful takeover.
Last week, two members of the Coordination Council, Siarhei Dyleuskis and Volha Kavalkova, were administratively detained for 10 days for organizing unauthorized protests.
On Thursday, V. Kavalkova was sentenced to another 15 days of arrest for violating the procedure for organizing mass events. S. Dyleuskis also faces new charges.
In an attempt to quell the unrest, the government also revoked the accreditations of many Belarusian journalists and expelled some foreign journalists.
Two journalists from the Moscow-based AP news agency were sent to Russia on Saturday to cover up the protests in Belarus. Belarusian journalists working for the AP news agency have been informed that their journalist certificates have been revoked.
Earlier this week, several Belarusian journalists were arrested on charges of participating in unauthorized protests.
On Wednesday night, the militia arrested two popular television presidents who left state television and expressed their support for the protesters.
The United States and the European Union do not consider the presidential elections on August 9 in Belarus to be free and fair. The West asks Minsk to enter into a dialogue with the opposition. Mr Lukashenko strongly rejects this possibility.
The country’s authoritarian leader has taken steps to secure Russia’s support. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that he was ready to send law enforcement officers to Belarus if Lukashenko asked if the situation worsened. Still, he added, not seeing the need for that yet.
On Thursday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived in Minsk to discuss the terms of the refinancing of Belarus’ public debt.
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