All enemies locked in as Belarus goes to elections

It has been over a year since the last sign of life from Maria Kolesnikova. The democracy activist was sentenced in 2021 to eleven years in prison for his role in the 2020 mass protests against Lukashenko, which followed a presidential election rigged in the autocratic leader’s favor.

Kolesnikova’s relatives believe she is isolated in one of the country’s notorious penal colonies, write The Guardian. The last letter to the family, on February 14, 2023, she ended with the words “everything will be fine”.

At least 1,430 political prisoners are currently being held in detention in Belarus, according to the human rights organization Vyasna. Among them are 2022 peace prize winner Ales Byalyatski and former presidential aspirant Viktor Babaryko.

Pressure on relatives

Nor has Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who leads the Belarusian opposition from exile in Lithuania, heard from her imprisoned husband Sergei Tikhanovsky for several months. This week reported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that their imprisoned reporter Igor Losik has not contacted his family for a year.

In recent years, several political prisoners have died due to lack of adequate care. Last week, regime critic Igor Lednik died in a Belarusian prison.

Observers banned

Sunday’s parliamentary election is the first election in Belarus after the protests of 2020. Since then, Aleksandr Lukashenko’s autocracy has increased the oppression of the population day by day. The country is falling on the world’s democracy index.

In the parliamentary elections, no forces critical of the regime are allowed and foreign observers are not welcome. The election is only aimed at consolidating Lukashenko’s iron grip on power, writes the intergovernmental democracy organization Idea in a statement.

In January, Lukashenko signed a law amendment that gives him criminal immunity for as long as he lives, AP reports. The law also prohibits opposition parties in exile from standing in future presidential elections.