Becoming a Belarusian activist or dissident abroad is a worrying and dangerous time, where a MiG-29 scrambled Ground Ryanair’s aircraft, This The “kidnapping” of Olympic sprinters failed A possible “murder disguised as suicide” in Ukraine has been assassinated by the growing community of Belarusian exiles.
“Considering the events in Kiev, I want to tell people that I am not suicidal,” Andrej Stryzhak, a Belarusian activist currently in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, wrote on Facebook last week . “We have strengthened our security measures, and we will continue our work regardless of the situation.”
The dark situation surrounding death Vitali ShishovLast week, an opposition activist in Kiev was spotted hanging from a tree in a city park, which is why Stryzhak said he moved his business to Lithuania last year and plans to continue working with his colleagues, “even if it happens Something to me”.
“On the one hand, it’s black humor, but it’s also a warning. If something happens to one of us, if one of us dies, it’s because someone did something to him,” Strizak said. Vilnius said in an interview. Colleagues also released similar information, he said: “This is the reality of our lives now.”
Stryzhak is the target because his organizations BY_help and Bysol have been the most effective fund-raising organizations to provide assistance to the Belarusian opposition. According to Stryzhak statistics, the two organizations have raised approximately US$7.8 million (£5.6 million) for various reasons, such as paying fines for protesters, funding opposition unions or supporting families of political prisoners, and distributing funds through cryptocurrency or other means So the government cannot intercept it.
Equally important, the organization saved dozens of people by helping them escape the country. Stryzhak will only describe the leaking process in general terms, including options such as “easy way” or “difficult way.”
“At some point, you decide to stay in this country and become a hostage, or you leave,” he said of those who were hunted by the police. He said that in July alone, Bysol helped about 50 people leave the country.
Its work embarrassed the government politically.When Arseniy Zdanevich’s husband Sprinter Christina Zimanusskaya, Fleeing Belarus last week He thanked Bysol for helping him cross the border. The dictator of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has proven that he will get angry when he is angry.
“Lukashenko has become a problem for the entire European continent,” Strizak said, who also pointed out that Belarus led Iraqi refugees to the Lithuanian border to create an EU immigration crisis. “My position is that we can no longer turn a blind eye to this: this is no longer a domestic problem.”
Lukashenko’s dramatic and dangerous campaign to silence his critics abroad has refocused international attention on the situation in Belarus. Whether it was transferring a Ryanair plane in May to arrest opposition activist and journalist Raman Platasevich, or trying to tie Zimanusskaya to a plane to Minsk, or from Moscow Extradite several well-known opponents, and the message to the opposition is clear: you are not safe anywhere. It is still unclear who was behind Shisov’s death. Many people suspect this was a suicide, but the police investigation continues, and other theories range from the Belarusian KGB operation to motives allegedly linked to far-right figures.
However, the Belarusian State Television often demonized opposition members as traitors and posted photos of them next to the noose, saying that they should be hanged, and a website supporting Lukashenko wrote after Kishov’s death that he “enjoyed The pleasure of being forced to suffocate”.
“The regime tries to scare people active outside Belarus,” said Svyatlana Zihanusskaya, The leader of the opposition in exile, from her office in Vilnius. “This is an attempt to scare everyone. To scare us, to defeat us, to be honest, it affects a lot of people. Why deny? But Belarusians understand that you can’t scare people forever.”
In recent months, she met with US President Joe Biden (Joe Biden) and Boris Johnson, Calling for tougher sanctions on Lukashenko and providing more support to the opposition. She said that the Lithuanian government also assigned her safety details and established safety rules for her employees. “I understand that I am clearly one of the goals of this regime,” she said. She added that being in an EU country does not guarantee safety.
On the eve of the first anniversary of the Belarusian protests, the opposition has never been besieged like it is now. But Qihanusskaya claimed that Lukashenko’s dramatic gesture was a way to conceal fear. “He did this to strengthen himself,” she said. “But he can’t restore his image as a strong leader like before.”
At the same time, the dangers faced by ordinary dissidents remain real and visceral. In Kiev, activists reported that they felt they were being followed. Bellingcat, an investigative journalism organization, stated that it is investigating information that Belarusian nationals have been infiltrated by Russian security services. In Russia, the government helped round up some dissidents wanted by Belarus and extradited some, even though they might face torture at home.
“My lawyer told me that I was lucky that they did not kidnap me right away,” said Nikola Dević, who was arrested in Russia for managing opposition social media channels (he did not personally participate in the protests) and was almost caught Extradition to Belarus earlier this year.
Others are not so lucky. Lukashenko’s former spokesperson Alexander Feduta and U.S. citizen lawyer Youras Ziankovich were arrested in Moscow in April by members of the Russian Federal Security Service and the Belarusian KGB. Secretly driven across the border into Belarus. They are accused of planning a coup against Lukashenko.
Alexei Kudin, a mixed martial artist, was accused of assaulting a police officer during a protest in Belarus last year. He was detained in Russia for more than six months and then quietly in mid-July. Across the border. This process is more like kidnapping than extradition.
“This definitely looks like a planned campaign against Belarusian activists,” said Dina Musina of the Citizens Aid Committee, an NGO that helps refugees and migrants. It is believed that hundreds of Belarusians fled to Russia after the protests to avoid arrest. But because of the possibility of being arrested and extradited by Russia, most people will soon be transferred to Ukraine and then to other countries in Europe. The NGO has identified seven Belarusian activists who have been formally detained in Russia, facing “politically motivated allegations” in Belarus, such as riots or resisting arrest.
Davidchik was told that when the Russian Attorney General refused to hand him over to Belarus, it was a “one in a million” chance, saying that he might be saved because his family members are Russian citizens.
“I am psychologically prepared for a long period of time in Belarusian prisons,” he said.
But he was put down. After his sudden release, he slipped out of Russia for Ukraine, and then went to Poland to continue his online activities. But his Telegram chat Lida for Life has been declared an extremist in Belarus, and he said he hopes the YouTube channel will do the same soon.
“If you touch [Lukashenko] Personally, he is really emotional and unstable, he can give orders and do everything possible to get you,” said David Cheek.
With Lukashenko’s repression systematically sweeping the entire society, in the context of the small-scale refugee crisis in Belarus, threats to some militants are unfolding. Polina Brodik, coordinator of the Kiev Free Belarus Center, said that in the past year, at least 800 people have sought legal assistance, psychological assistance, help find housing, food banks, or educational programs from the charity.
Some families have children who need urgent psychological care due to trauma. Others left physical scars due to government treatment. “The most touching story is that young people, teenagers, come to tell the story of torture,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “Some tortures are quite serious. We have also encountered cases in which people suffered physical trauma and needed long-term recovery.”
The recent events chilled the refugee community in Kiev, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered additional security for Belarusian exiles after Kishov’s death. However, the police lacked trust in the police. They had cooperated with the Belarusian authorities in the past and failed in the investigation. Number of deaths from car explosions in 2016 Pavel Sheremet, a journalist born in Belarus. “This forces people to think again about how safe they are here,” she said. “If many Belarusians decide to leave, I won’t be surprised.”
In Vilnius, Stryzhak said he studied the long-term resistance movements in South America: Argentina, Brazil, and Chile-“There are places where dictators have problems.” He added that activists are at risk wherever they are. .
“Even here in the EU it is impossible to feel completely safe, because we can see how the repressive machine wants to destroy the threat,” he said. “This is a problem. This is a danger. But this is not a reason for us to stop working.”
