The Diamond - an elite special forces unit in Belarus - is the personal security detail of President Alexander Lukashenko.
In a secret location outside the country, a former Diamond officer, Igor Makar, spoke to EUobserver about his experiences and why he fled to seek refuge in the EU.
He said the Lukashenko system has turned rank-and-file police and the state security service, the KGB, into "criminals."
"The state itself makes criminals out of the police because they are...
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Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.