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Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko has been in power continuously since 1994, ruling with a rod of iron. He faces fresh elections in August (Photo: kremlin.ru)

Feature

Belarus: Inside Lukashenko’s crackdown on independent voices

Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko has been in power continuously since 1994, ruling with a rod of iron. He faces fresh elections in August (Photo: kremlin.ru)

June 10, 2020, 18:43. Two men approach a car parked in a narrow street near Hrodna city centre, in western Belarus. Behind them, eight young men follow.

The men surround the car shouting "Police!", as they take the hands of both men and pack them into a grey unmarked van that has just pulled over.

In a couple of seconds, the bus is driving fast along the streets of the Hrodna - once a favourite city of Stefan Batory, the famed 16th century Polish-Lithuanian king.

This looks ...

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Author Bio

Dzmitry Mitskevich is a journalist at Belsat TV, analyst with Belarus Security Blog, and editor-in-chief of Varta – an annual Belarusian magazine on national security. His field of interests include information warfare, propaganda, international politics and fighting terrorism. This article appeared first on Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.

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