On the 19th of December 2011, one year since the presidential election in Belarus, the ukrainian FEMEN activists Inna Shevchenko, Oksana Shachko and Aleksandra Nemchinova organized a flash mob and stripped topless in front of the Belarusian KGB headquarters, screaming ”Long live Belarus!” and ”Freedom to political prisoners!” They later on disappeared and their friends could not reach them on their mobile phones.

According to our sources, and also independent media in Belarus, the activists have been found today in the Yelsk district of the Homel region, badly beaten, with shaved hair, naked, without phones or documents, tied to a tree in the woods. The girls don’t know who detained them but suppose it was officers of KGB and police. This information has been confirmed by the leader of the Ukrainian group, Anna Gutsol, who received a phone call from the girls.

http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2011/12/20/45991/

http://rt.com/news/lukashenko-kgb-femen-missing-235/

http://www.themoscownews.com/international/20111220/189305026.html

”We were shocked by the verdict. We are afraid. Vlad is not involved in this crime, they could shoot a completely innocent person, it is terrible. They lied about everything, what Fedartsov read today is not true to the preparatory stage . They turned everything into what they needed, they ignored entirely what the FSB (Russian security Service) said in their expert opinions, they failed to mention many details. They painted a picture of the guys like monsters, but they are not! We will do what we can … We will write to the president and ask him to pardon them. I’m so afraid of what will happen to my brother. I can’t talk more now. ” – Tatiana, sister of Vladislav Kavaliou, who was today sentenced to death in Belarus.

He is threatened with 7 years in prison, and the official reasons for charging him is tax evasion/ economical crimes. By tricking the authorities of Lithuania and Poland not to follow the banking secrecy, KGB got access to information about accounts, registered in Ales Byalyatskis name. It is not possible for Viasna to open an account in Belarus (and it’s also illegal for NGO’s to get any funding from foreign institutions).

International human rights organisations, the leadership of the EU and the US and a number of other democratic countries demand the release of Byalyatski. Thousands of complaints from all over the world has been sent to belarusian authorities.

It has also been announced that Belarusian embassies around the world have denied visas to human rights activist who planned to come to Minsk to attend the trial over Byalyatski, Charter 97 reports.

For more info, see:

Human Rights Center Viasna

Charter97.org

SVD (in swedish)

Once again, thousands protested in Belarus on wednesday (29 of June) against the dictatorial regime. Through quiet protests in different cities all over the country, only clapping hands, people showed their disappointment with the current political and economical situation. And for clapping hands, people got brutally beaten and arrested.

As you can see on the video below, also journalists were arrested.

Read more about the protests:

The Independent

Radio Free Europe

Charter 97

RiaNovosti

Photos by Anton Motolko / www.antonmotolko.com

- Vi har äran att få presentera Ales Michalevic som gästskribent på inofbelarus.nu i dag. Det är av stor vikt att de som faktiskt lever under förtryck och har upplevt den belarusiska regimens våld på nära håll, får tala ut inför omvärlden. Deras åsikter tystas dagligen och det är upp till oss att ge dem möjligheten att höras utanför diktaturens gränser, säger Isabel Sommerfeld, samordnare för Info Belarus.

Än i dag sitter hundratals politiska fångar fängslade efter protesterna mot valfusket i december 2010.
Michalevich lyckades fly landet, men ett flertal presidentkandidater sitter fängslade och utsätts för samma typ av tortyr och behandling som Michalevic vittnar om. Andrei Sannikov, en annan opponent till Lukasjenka, dömdes här om dagen till 5 års fängelse, som en av de huvudmisstänkta bakom organiseringen av protesterna under valdagen. Även han vittnar om tortyr. Farsliknande rättegångar mot unga aktivister och MR-arbetare hålls nu regelbundet.

- Regimen har på kort tid gått från att vara auktoritär till totalitär. Övervakningen och förtrycket gentemot oliktänkande märks av mer än någonsin. Diktaturen vi talar om ligger 1,5 timme bort med direktflyg från Stockholm. Det är chockerande att det här tillåts ske så nära oss, mitt i Europa. Stå upp för frihetskämparna och de fängslade politiska fångarna. Kom med på manifestation i dag på Sergels torg i Stockholm, fortsätter Isabel Sommerfeld.

Läs hela vittnesskildringen där Michalevic berättar om sin politiska kampanj, hans syn på utvecklingen i landet samt om tortyren i KGB:s fängelse, på www.infobelarus.nu. Citera gärna från hans artikel i övriga medier.

Vi välkomnar också allmänheten och media till solidaritetsmanifestationen på Sergels torg i dag kl. 11:30-12:30. Arrangörer är Info Belarus, Silc och Östgruppen.

Människorättsnätverket Info Belarus arbetar med att uppmärksamma situationen och den politiska utvecklingen i Europas sista diktatur, Belarus (Vitryssland). Med vår informationskampanj vill vi också stärka intresset bland journalister, politiker och allmänheten. Läs mer: www.infobelarus.nu.

Se hela pressmeddelandet här.

“Soon after I was released, I gave a press-conference in which I stated about the conditions in the KGB prison and the tortures taking place there. I wanted people to know the truth on what is really going on with the political activists and former presidential candidates, that such things are possible in a European country in the centre of Minsk in the 21 century,” Ales Michalevich writes, presidential candidate in the 2010 election in Belarus.

I was always advocating for the peaceful evolutionary change of the country’s political regime and I saw the upcoming 2010 presidential elections as an opportunity to openly declare my views on the country’s further political and economic development, find possible ways of cooperation between the authorities and civil society in Belarus. Work with various sectors of Belarusian governmental system convinced me that the Belarusian state structure was in need of an urgent modernization, with an emphasis on local self-government, democratic procedures and respect to human rights. My participation in the presidential campaign also resulted from all my previous civic and political activities.

In January 2010 I officially declared I would be taking part in the presidential elections in Belarus as an independent candidate. I saw my presidential campaign as an opportunity to attract people that never before actively participated in politics, but were willing to improve the economic and political image of the country without resorting to radical ideas but rather by means of progressive reforming of the major spheres in economy and political sector. From the very beginning I tried to work with the various target groups of Belarusian society, organizing events and addressing them directly, aiming to attract their attention. I left the classical opposition voters to other candidates, instead focusing on a larger segment of society.

I must admit that the conditions for organizing a presidential campaign in Belarus were more liberal than in the previous years. I was able to freely address my views and meet with the people, despite minor violations from the side of the authorities. In May 2010 I presented a thesis of my electoral program: ”Belarus: Strategy of Evolution” in Minsk city hall. The electoral program consisted of three basic parts: economy growth, effective state, active society. I was also able to register Union ”For Modernization”. The organization promotes transformation of a Belarusian state to modern forms of organization of economics, social and cultural spheres, as well as preparation of Belarusian society for the upcoming changes. The Union aims at reaching a different level of business-state relations, stimulation of inner market competition, attraction of new technologies, investments into high-technology production, development of service industries.

During my campaign I gave numerous interviews to Belarusian and foreign media, participated in the debates and made working visits to Belarusian regions. My initiative group was able to collect the necessary amount of signatures for balloting. Which was quite surprising, most of them were from Belarusian province. After I was officially registered as a presidential candidate, I continued my promotion campaign, making strong accent on agitation in the regions, fully using my time on state television and radio, seeking understanding with the authorities on the issue of modernization of the country and implementation of democratic changes. All in all, I believe the campaign proved to be relatively successful for me with independent polls giving me 10 % of the electoral votes. If I were to go back, I would not seriously change any point of my campaign. During the campaign period, I was able to meet many new people, establish contacts and I believe the voters were able to hear my message on the modernization of the country.

What happened at the day of elections, on December 19, cannot be described in any rational terms. To the moment when I came to the rally a big amount of its participants were beaten and injured. Hundreds of people who protested against the election result have been arrested in the post election crackdown. I was arrested by the KGB troops later in the night at my campaign office and taken to the KGB prison. Members of my initiative group were being constantly called to the KGB for interrogation, as well as some of my relatives.

Shortly before the New Year I was officially accused of organizing of mass disorders. The events following the accusation were even more disturbing. In the KGB prison I was subjected to tortures. KGB jail carried out personal searches of prisoners for five or six times a day: Men in black masks with no markings conducted such searches. We were stretched naked, with our legs hooked up to a complete string. We could feel our ligament tearing; in the end of this procedure, it was difficult to walk. We were placed naked a meter apart from the wall with our hands stretched forward, propping up the wall in the room, where the temperature didn’t exceed ten degrees. We had been kept so for 40 minutes until our hands got swelled. Sometimes they made us prop up the walls with our palms up. Some prisoners with a poor health got faint during such ”procedures.” However, the people in masks did not stop. They didn’t turn off the fluorescent lamps at night but demanded to lie down under the lamp, not even covering the face with a handkerchief to see the face. As a result, the eye-sight began to deteriorate. We were ordered to sleep with our faces turned to the ”eyes” in the doorway, the compliance of which was continually watched – if turned while sleeping, they went in and woke us up, forcing to lie down as ordered. In fact, it caused a complete absence of sleep. Prisoners were denied their legal right to medical help. Lawyers were also not allowed to prisoners. This was done deliberately to make the prisoners keep silence about torture.

I refused to read out a statement, condemning the other candidates, on TV. KGB conducted questioning without lawyers, without protocol, thus violating the procedural rules. They confiscated my diary with every-day records, made there; but it is impossible to erase from my memory what happened within those walls. The condition for my release was the signing of a ”cooperation agreement.” I deliberately took this step, and it was not dictated by the pressure and torture, but the desire to convey information about what’s happening to the prisoners.

Soon after I was released, I gave a press-conference in which I stated about the conditions in the KGB prison and the tortures taking place there. I wanted people to know the truth on what is really going on to the political activists and former presidential candidates, that such things are possible in a European country in the centre of Minsk in the 21 century. I wanted to show what the current regime was ready to do to remain in power, how it violates basic human rights and how it makes oppositional political activists agree to cooperate.

After two weeks of active campaigning on informing the society on tortures and conditions in KGB prison, I secretly left the country for fear of persecution from Belarusian authorities and possible new detainment by KGB.

It is evident that the regime now faces one of the most serious economic crises that ever happened to Belarus. In some spheres it seems as if we went back to the beginning of the 90-ies with the deficit of products and inflation. The regime relies on Russian credit and financing but this will not change the situation in the long term. What is needed is serious economic, social and political modernization, but the regime is unlikely to start reforming as it will diminish Lukashenka’s personal power.

The EU should first of all press the regime for stopping of tortures and for the release of all political prisoners. It may also impose sanctions, though previously I was against such measures. Third sector and pro-democratic representatives, independent media and organizations should be supported.

Ales Michalevic,
Presidential Candidate in Belarus, 2010

Presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov today spoke out in court about the torture in prison and the threats from KGB. This was his statement:

”They forced me to stretch my arms and legs, lean against the wall and stay like that in a cold chamber for a long time. They forced me to squat several times, even though I told them that I had an injured leg, but they would not listen. Only later they allowed me to put my clothes on. All this took place in the presence of masked men who banged on the walls and screamed at me.

For about a month I was denied the right to correspondence and received no letters from home.

Well-trained masked men exercised psychological pressure on me, kicked me and screamed at me. All the time I was in handcuffs and was ill-treated.

I am making this statement now because the prosecutor is asking questions about my testimony during interrogations. I wrote about torture in the KGB prison and was punished for that.

I was kept in inhumane conditions, on the floor under a bunk bed, with bad health and an injured leg.

Certain inmates, possibly prompted by the authorities, were telling me to write a letter to Lukashenko, as did other presidential candidates.

When they read me the indictment, I found out that my wife was kept somewhere near my cell. I learned that they tried to get my son. I was told that if I wanted to help my wife, it should provide the necessary evidence.

They forced me to meet KGB chairman Zaitsev, who made threats about the lives and health of my wife and child. When I refused to confirm the lies they told me to confirm, Zaitsev said that more serious measures will be taken against my wife and child. I could not believe that a state official at this level could say things like a crime boss. I took his words seriously and realized that indeed the life of my wife and son depend on my behavior, since my wife was also in prison.

Later I was brought to a KGB operative named Fetisov, who started to prepare me for interrogations according to the topics laid out by Zaitsev; he was interested in funding issues and my contacts with foreigners. They told me before the first interrogation what I should say about these topics. Fetisov was present to make sure that I provided the needed evidence. He prepared a detailed plan for my interrogation and warned that references to the Constitution and my refusal to testify will not be accepted. My liver bothered me greatly before the first interrogation. I was thinking that I should give testimony that would help my wife. My request for a lawyer was declined.

My first meeting with the lawyer happened only on March 22. My requests to be provided with documents, the text of the Constitution and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights were declined. During interrogations, my lawyer could play only a passive role. They even prohibited me from looking at my lawyer. During all of the interrogations I felt physically terrible, but I did not refuse to give testimony. During interrogations they exercised physical and mental pressure on me.

I was completely deprived of information. Until today I have not received the newspapers I requested. They forced me to watch reactionary anti-Semitic films. The head of KGB prison also forced conversations with me.

Therefore, I am making this statement to declare that the testimony I gave during interrogations does not correspond to reality. That is why I showed willingness to testify in court.”

Natallya Radzina, chefredaktör för oberoende Charter97.org har flytt från Belarus, enligt information som lämnats till hennes kolleger.

Den 30:e mars fick journalisten ett samtal från KGB som krävde att hon skulle infinna sig hos dem dagen därpå för ytterligare utfrågning gällande åtalet mot henne. Natallya är en av de huvudanklagade när det gäller planeringen av massdemonstrationen mot valfusket den 19 december i Minsk. Hon riskerar 15 års fängelse för att hon har gjort sitt jobb som oberoende journalist.

Enligt Natallyas mor lämnade hon landet redan kvällen före mötet med KGB. Ingen vet säkert var hon nu befinner sig, men det ryktas om att hon tagit sig till London.

Läs mer: http://charter97.org/en/news/2011/4/1/37306/.