VILNA Human rights activist Olga Karač came to a strange light in August.
Karač, a Belarusian, had fled to Lithuania ten years ago, but now the Lithuanian security service announced that it had received incriminating information about him. The security service accused Karachi of cooperating with the Russian intelligence service.
Belarus and Russia are very similar, which is why the accusations are interesting. After all, Karač is the autocratic president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko a vocal critic and well-known human rights activist in the country.
In the video, Karač talks about his situation.
Olga Karač presents the flag of the Belarusian opposition.
Like Karač, a large number of opposition figures in Belarus are in exile or in prison.
The Belarusian administration tramples on human rights in many ways and the opposition’s activities are practically suppressed. There are more than 1,500 political prisoners in the country.
Karač says he filed a criminal complaint for defamation
We meet 44-year-old Karači in a large two-story detached house located a twenty-minute drive from the center of Vilnius.
According to Karač, it is a safe house where he leads NGO Nash Dom (in Finnish, our house) accommodates Belarusian and Ukrainian refugees.
Twelve people live in the house. Most of them are already in their own rooms at the time of the interview after nine in the evening.
Karač starts recounting things from his own point of view. He vehemently denies that he cooperates with the Russian intelligence service.
– I am very angry about the accusations. I have worked for human rights for years and I will never cooperate with the Russian intelligence service. I feel like I’m a hare being chased by a wolf.
In the video, Karač tells why he feels he has become a target.
Karač has appealed against the rejecting asylum decision.
– I have also filed a lawsuit for defamation against the Lithuanian security service. I’m not a Russian spy.
Difficulties in three countries
Karač says he is in trouble in many countries.
– In Belarus, I am accused of being a terrorist, and because of that I am threatened with the death sentence there. Russian propagandists call me a Nazi, which is absolutely not true. In Lithuania, I am allegedly a threat to national security.
In Lithuania, the security service and many influential politicians demand stricter monitoring of Belarusians. The discussion had already started when the suspicions about Karachi became public.
More than 60,000 people have fled or moved to Lithuania from Belarus. It is known that there are also infiltrators of the repressive regime among them.
Karač says he visited Belarus for the last time so far in March 2020. Later that year, President Lukashenko’s administration violently crushed the large protests that started after the unfair elections.
– I can no longer go to Belarus. I am on Lukashenko’s kill list.
After the protests that followed the unfair presidential elections, the opposition in Belarus has found itself in a real tight spot.
The picture is from the September 2020 protests in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
The organization helps hundreds of Belarusian families
Karač says that the main work of his organization in Lithuania is to help Ukrainian and Belarusian refugees.
– Many of them have arrived in Lithuania without any property. The Ukrainians have fled the war and the Belarusians the oppression of the country’s administration.
Karač presents relief goods stored in the basement of the house, such as clothes and dishes. He says that the organization also distributes food.
– We distribute 300–500 kilos of food every week.
Karač says the organization helps about 300 Belarusian families in Lithuania and about 150 families in Belarus. According to Karač, grassroots opposition activities are still possible in Belarus, as long as they are hidden from the authorities.
Karač talks seriously about the suffering experienced by opposition activists in Belarus. Many have been reported by their loved ones. Many have been tortured, and some of Karachi’s acquaintances have ended up committing suicide in prison.
– You can rape, kill, do anything there. It’s terrible. Anything can happen to you.
Founded in the city of Vitebsk, Belarus in 2002.
The operation expanded nationwide in 2008. The organization began to offer help in defending civil rights.
The Belarusian authorities have blocked the organization’s activities. Because of that, the operation has been moved to Lithuania.
The organization campaigns on behalf of conscientious objectors
According to Karač, the second main mission of the Nash Dom organization is to campaign against the war. Karač and his partners are trying to help young Belarusian conscientious objectors to flee the country.
The organization from Karachi has campaigned against Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, for example at bus stops in Germany and in various publications.
Karač says that the suspicions against him may be partly related to the lawyer hired by the campaign to help disarmamentists Mantas to Danielus.
The lawyer’s task was to help Belarusian conscientious objectors with visas and other paperwork in Lithuania. However, it was revealed that he had vague connections to Belarus. Danielus was arrested last year on suspicion of spying for Belarus.
– At the time of Danielus’ arrest, I understood that it is very dangerous for me if the KGB starts recruiting Lithuanians to monitor the activities of our human rights organization.
The KGB is the security service of Belarus. According to Karač, the lawyer tried to get information about the organization’s representatives and activists still in Belarus.
Karač says that he broke off cooperation with the lawyer even before the arrest, when the situation began to dawn on him.
The Embassy of Belarus operates in a festive building in Vilnius. Pictures of the victims of the repressive regime have been brought outside the fence.
Karač visited Russia several times
According to the Lithuanian Security Service, Karač visited Russia several times between 2015 and 2019 and met with representatives of the Russian intelligence service. Karač admits that he participated in conferences in Russia, but denies that he at least knowingly talked with the agents.
– Maybe I have talked with someone who has been from the Russian intelligence service. I may have spoken, but the accusations are lame. Intelligence agents are everywhere.
Executive director of the International Peace Bureau campaigning for Karachi Sean Conner says that Karač has told the organization openly about his visits to Russia.
– He has been at conferences talking about the situation in Belarus and the right to disarmament, Conner tells in a video interview.
– Karač denies that he knew that he had a conversation with agents of the Russian intelligence service. However, it is possible that he has been chatting without knowing that they were agents.
In the video, Karač presents his organization’s aid goods.
Conner is not convinced by the accusations presented by the authorities.
– Accusations should be viewed with suspicion. Olga has not been accused of espionage or criminal cooperation with the Russian intelligence service.
In Conner’s view, the one-year residence permit granted to Karači on humanitarian grounds shows that he is not an immediate security threat to Lithuania.
– We have to keep in mind that he has been named a terrorist in Belarus. His life is in danger if he has to return to Belarus.
Karač himself denies many times during the interview that he would cooperate with Russia. He asserts his innocence and believes he can stay in Lithuania after the trial.
– I want to get political asylum and continue my work here. I haven’t done anything wrong.
Karač estimated that the legal process could take a year or two. He has a valid residence permit in Lithuania until August next year.
A large part of Lithuania’s more than 60,000 Belarusians live in Vilnius, like in Karachi.
The MP is convinced of Karachi’s guilt
Chairman of the Security Committee of the Lithuanian Parliament, Member of Parliament Laurynas Kasčiūnas is one of the influential politicians who demand closer control of Belarusians in Lithuania.
Kasčiūnas says he is confident that the Lithuanian security service has strong evidence against Karači.
– Karač is a threat to national security because he has connections with the Russian intelligence service, Kasčiūnas says to in an interview in the Lithuanian parliament.
According to Kasčiūnas, the Karači case is very strange.
– He fights against Lukashenka, but cooperates with Russia.
In the video, Kasčiūnas explains why he considers Karači a security threat.
In your opinion, what kind of cooperation has Karač had with the Russian intelligence service?
– The information is secret, but the Lithuanian security service does not work based on imagination. The evidence will be presented in court, so you have to wait for the trial. I’m sure there’s a strong case against him.
Should he be deported from Lithuania?
– International law prevents it. In Belarus, he may be oppressed by Lukashenko’s regime. Even without refugee status, he has the right to be in Lithuania.