Maria Kalesnikava was awarded the Gerhart and Renate Baum Human Rights Prize. Her sister, Tatiana Khomich, received it in Stuttgart on her behalf.

The ceremony was held on February 7 as part of the Eclat music festival. The prize amounts to 10.000 €.

Khomich read the address from her sister to the audience:

“I don't regret my decision, I am not afraid just like thousands of Belarusians. Now we know for sure that freedom is inside you - and neither prisons, nor walls, nor bars can kill it. And freedom is worth fighting for.”

Belarusian Minister of Internal Affairs told RIA Novosti that the police is ready to disperse protests expected to occur during the Congress and their organizers are known to the authorities.

“The administrators of the chats that call for people to go out into the streets are known. We work with them, we control them. They try to make people think that those who want to break the law and go out into the streets are many. In fact, there is just a handful of them.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko promised to change the Constitution and conduct a referendum regarding the new one in 2022.

“This year we will finish the project of the Constitution. And during the year it will be discussed by the entire nation. And in the beginning of the next year at least, we will have a referendum about it, a nationwide vote.

Once we have a new Constitution, we will have to change many laws. I am sure we are able to do it.”

And then, according to Lukashenko, the matter of “when will he leave” will be decided.

Two people from Minsk were condemned to three years of hard labor for an installation with photos of Kachanava (head of the upper house of Belarusian parliament) and Kubrakov (Minister of Internal Affairs).

THE ELDEST SON’S ADVENTURES

Today Lukashenko dismissed his son Viktor from the post of National Security Assistant. Also, Viktor Lukashenko attained the rank of major general (analog to Brigadier General) in reserve according to one more father’s decree.

On February 26, Viktor Lukashenko, the eldest son of the “last Europe’s dictator”, was elected President of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus. Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has headed the National Olympic Committee since 1997, has resigned.

Katerina Borisevich, TUT.by journalist who is awaiting a court decision in her case today, and the dancing girls calling for spring, are portrayed on the page of the famous Italian newspaper La Stampa.

IMPRISONED FOR TELLING TRUTH

Katerina Borisevich, TUT.by journalist, was sentenced to 6 months in prison and a fine of about 1100 $. Katerina will be credited with the time spent in the detention center from the moment of detention. Artyom Sorokin, an emergency hospital doctor, was sentenced to 2 years in prison with a one-year suspension. According to the lawyers of Katerina Borisevich, taking into account the time that Katerina spent in the pre-trial detention center, she will be released in a little more than 2 months.

Katerina and Artem were convicted for publicly refuting the authorities' version that Raman Bandarenka, who was murdered by the security forces, was drunk. They accused honest people under Part 3 of Article 178 of the Criminal Code: “Disclosing medical secrets, entailing grave consequences.”

‼️RYANAIR PLANE TRAVELING FROM ATHENS TO VILNIUS WAS HIJACKED BY LUKASHENKO!‼️please share!

Boeing 737-8AS operated by Ryanair and making a trip from Athens to Vilnius suddenly changed its course while flying over Lida and landed at the airport in Minsk. This was motivated by a bomb threat, the plane was checked by the EOD team but no bomb has been found.

It turned out, one of the passengers was Roman Pratasevich, editor of the “Brain-damaged Belarus” (BDB) Telegram channel and an ex-editor of Nexta, one of the largest pro-democracy Telegram channels in Belarus. The Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed his arrest.

Before leaving Greece, Pratasevich said that at the airport in Athens he noted that he was being watched by suspicious people. One of them tried to take a picture of his documents, BDB reported.

Despite the fact that the plane was closer to Vilnius, its intended destination, Lukashenka ordered it redirected and landed in Minsk. A fighter jet was sent to escort the plane. “Belarus has defended Europe”, Lukashenka’s press service wrote.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called this situation “a special forces operation” to capture the plane and Pratasevich. She stated that “not a single person flying over Belarus could be sure of their safety”.

Tsikhanouskaya’s team contacted Ryanair’s headquarters and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) demanding an investigation and appropriate sanctions, up to and including the expulsion of Belarus from ICAO.

Earlier, the Belarusian KGB put Roman Pratasevich on the terrorism watch list. In absentia, he was charged with numerous crimes, including inciting mass riots. Belarusian authorities have tried to have him extradited but in vain. In Belarus, Pratasevich could face the death penalty.

Tsikhanouskaya held a press briefing regarding the plane capture and the arrest of Pratasevich

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “This is the second day since the Ryanair flight was captured. Roman Pratasevich, a blogger and activist, was arrested, we don’t know his location and condition. There is a high chance that he is being tortured by the police.

Sophia Sapega, his girlfriend, was detained alongside him. She is 23, she was on the same flight. Sophia is a Russian citizen, and the human rights advocates say that the Russian consul refused to help her.

It is hard to imagine what Roman and Sophia went through and are going through at the moment. The passengers who made it to Vilnius said that when the plane was turned towards Minsk, Roman began shaking and before he was arrested, he said: “Death penalty awaits me there”.

Roman is 26 – the same age as the current Belarusian regime. To capture him, Lukashenka has personally ordered a military aircraft to intercept a plane carrying European citizens. Yesterday’s events and the EU’s reaction to them showed this: everyone now understands that not just Belarusians are in danger. This was an act of state-sanctioned terrorism, and now any passenger of a civilian airplane flying over Belarus is at risk. The regime has turned the country into a North Korea in the middle of Europe.

We have been in contact with Roman’s parents for the past two days. They consider him a hero and are ready to fight for their son’s freedom. I am also in contact with Pavel Latushka to ensure we have a united position. My team has requested information on the events at the Athens airport from the government of Greece. According to Ryanair’s management, there could’ve been secret services agents on board. Before boarding, Roman himself said that he was being watched.

We are in contact with ministers from Ireland and Poland, as well as the Lithuanian government. This evening I’m going to have a phone call with a representative of Biden’s administration. We have just discussed the next steps with Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

We insist that the international community reacts: introduces new sanctions, expels Belarus from the International Civil Aviation Organization, and launches an investigation so that all the perpetrators get appropriately punished. We also call to suspend the membership of Belarus in international organizations like Interpol because the regime uses it for political purposes.

We won’t stop at half-measures. Roman Pratasevich, Sophia Sapega, and the rest of the political prisoners in Belarus must be freed. But it is important to remember that the decisive solution to the political and humanitarian crisis in Belarus is only possible through the new and fair elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus”.

Belarusian state TV channels have released a video with Raman Pratasevich who was detained yesterday in Minsk after the Ryanair plane was forced to land there.
In this video, he says, that he doesn't have any health issues and had been treated according to the law.
As you can see in the screenshot from this video, Raman's face has traces of violence. Sources close to Raman say that he is being beaten and is likely being threatened and blackmailed – his girlfriend still remains in custody.
Belarusian independent telegram channels released the video with a comment "He is being held hostage".
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, explained to the journalists earlier today that sanctions on individuals, companies and Belarus's aviation sector were all under discussion, adding that they were also putting pressure on the regime to immediately release journalist Roman Protasevich.

🇱🇻MAYOR OF RIGA: EVERYONE HAS TO PICK A SIDE TO STAND ON
Yesterday in Riga, hosting the World Hockey Championship, the red and green official flag of Belarus was replaced by the white-red-white one. The city’s mayor did it, raising the banner entrusted to him by the Belarusian political refugees.

“The flag that symbolizes a regime conducting state terrorism is inappropriate for the Riga’s urban environment”, the mayor said.

The head of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) René Fasel was outraged at this. “We have sent a letter to the mayor of Riga. This is unacceptable. We will not change flags at the arena. And we will ask to remove the flags of the world championship and the IIHF from the places where the flags were changed." Earlier this year, Rene Fasel traveled to Belarus to meet Lukashenko and had insisted that the World Hockey Championship should have been hosted by Minsk.

“I have received a request from Mr René Fasel, the President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), to return the red and green flags of Belarus to the public space of Riga. If that is not done, he has requested to remove the flags of IIHF instead.
Flags of Belarus are present in Riga – the white-red-and-white flags of the free Belarus. The International Ice Hockey Championship is first and foremost a celebration for athletes, hockey fans, the people of Riga and Latvia. But we cannot forget that just a few hundred kilometers away an EU aircraft is hijacked and people are being tortured and killed. The regime committing these crimes is behaving like a bandit on the national and now also on an international level. (...)
However, the President of the IIHF Mr Fasel seems to think otherwise. Everyone has to pick a side to stand on – to stand with the persecuted people longing for freedom or with a bloody and uncontrollable dictator. I have made my choice, and we will proceed with removing the IIHF flags from the public space in Riga.” says Mārtiņš Staķis, the mayor of Riga.

Egils Levits, the President of Latvia, called the mayor’s actions “an adequate political reaction” and a signal that Latvia doesn’t recognize the “authorities” of Belarus.

Yesterday’s replacement of the flag in Riga was the cause to expel Latvian diplomats from Belarus. They were given 24 hours to leave the country. In response, Latvia expelled Belarusian diplomats.

This morning the city hall of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, also replaced the red and green flag with the white-red-white one.

‼ANOTHER VICTIM OF THE BLOODY DICTATOR – POLITICAL PRISONER DEAD IN JAIL

Last Friday, on May 21st, the family of the political prisoner Vitold Ashurak was told that he died in prison from a heart attack. He was 50 years old.

On September 19th, 2020 Vitold peacefully protested against the rigged elections in Lida, Belarus near the local administration office. He was arrested that day and sentenced to five years in prison later in January 2021. Journalist and fellow "For Freedom" activist Volha Bykouskaja suggested that Ashurak got a long sentence because the authorities tried to suppress the regional protests in the first place.

Ashurak was a human rights and environmental activist in the Lida region – he took part in the local municipal elections and also drew the attention of the media and international organizations to the ecological damage caused by the local vitreous fibers manufacturer. Earlier in 2016, he was fined by the local court for the “unauthorized protest”.

Two weeks before he was announced dead, Ashurak sent a postcard to his family from prison. He mentioned that the detention facility authorities had forced all the “political prisoners” to wear the yellow labels. It was the last time when anyone, including his family, heard from him.

After Ashurak’s family received the information about his death, they tried to contact the authorities in order to pick up the body but it hasn’t been released for the next several days. When his brother finally picked up the body, the head and other parts were heavily bandaged. Prison morgue employees explained that the body was accidentally dropped.

“Vitold’s family wasn’t allowed to do a postmortem examination”, – says the source close to his family. “His widow and family members in Belarus are threatened by the authorities.”

Ashurak’s widow says that her husband never suffered from a heart condition. She received his death certificate stating “an unidentified cause of death”. His funeral is happening today in Lida, Belarus.

‼BELARUSIAN "DICTATOR-TV" IS FINANCED BY THE WESTERN CORPORATIONS
According to the research by the German-Swiss human rights organization "Libereco", two out of three commercials on Belarusian state television are placed by companies from Europe and the USA.
“For a year now, the Lukashenko regime has been terrorising its own population; even the worst PR manager should have noticed that. The fact that global brands like Procter & Gamble, Mars, Henkel, Coca-Cola or PepsiCo continue to advertise on the dictator’s propaganda channels is a scandal. The companies obviously only care about their profits, they do not care about the catastrophic human rights situation in Belarus. The Western corporations have lost all sense of injustice, this is a moral declaration of bankruptcy,” says Libereco’s Chairman in Germany, Marco Fieber.
The President of Libereco Switzerland, Lars Bünger, emphasises with regard to the food giant Nestlé, which despite criticism continues to widely advertise its products on Belarusian state television: “The company was comprehensively informed by us in a personal conversation at the beginning of July about the human rights situation in Belarus. After the recent shocking events, we now expect a very soon public statement from Nestlé on how they will end their advertising in Belarusian state media.”
Fieber and Bünger appeal to politicians to ban advertising by international companies in Belarusian state media as a targeted sanction against the criminal Lukashenko regime.
You can support this ban on sharing this information and approaching the local offices and social media pages of these corporations.
https://www.lphr.org/en/westliche-konzerne-finanzieren-lukaschenkos-propaganda-tv/

“MY HEAD WAS COVERED WITH A BLACK BAG, I WAS CHOKING AND SCREAMING WHILE THEY LAUGHED”, — in his final address Stepan Latypov spoke about beating and torture.

On August 12, Stepan Latypov, a political prisoner who used to live near the “Square of Change”, gave a moving final address in the court of the Sovietsky district of Minsk. Stepan spoke about his family, his great-grandfather who was sent before the firing squad in 1937 (the heyday of Stalin’s repressions - editor’s remark), about his own arrest on September 15, 2020, about the beating from the police, how he planned suicide, and what he expects from the verdict. Latypov is accused of creating a telegram chat for his block of flats, as well as a workshop where the protest symbols were made. He was also charged with resisting the police during his arrest. Moreover, as a director of the Belarbo company he is being charged with defrauding the clients while providing plant protection services.

During the trial, Latypov pleaded not guilty to all charges. Vladimir Rabov, the prosecutor, asked that the court deem Latypov guilty on three articles of the Criminal code and convict him to 8,5 years of a high-security prison, as well as a fine.

“On September 15, 2020, masked people took me into a van. They tied my hands behind my back, put a trash bag on my head, and took me away.<...> Then they beat me. Turned the radio volume up to the max and started beating me. I have never been so afraid in my entire life.

The masked men punched me, kicked me, and beat me with batons. All together and one by one. They twisted my hands and legs, hit my ears with their palms to make me feel as if a grenade exploded in my head. They hit my buttocks with batons, and hit in a way that doesn’t leave bruises. I was screaming and choking while they laughed. They said: “Let’s learn the alphabet, now we are asking you to say “A”, then we’ll move on to “B”. They said: “Stop screaming, your Tikhanovskaya won’t hear you”, but I kept screaming. I was screaming and thinking: “It is a good thing they got me, few of my neighbors would’ve been able to handle this”.

When the pain was especially bad, I remembered my mother’s words, she taught me to say to myself: “I’m a little hedgehog, and nothing hurts”. For a time it helped. But they [the police] were very experienced, they called me by name and didn’t let me disassociate.

<...>

[Regarding the suicide attempt at the courthouse] It was painful. It was terribly painful and scary. I wanted to cut the jugular, couldn’t do it on the left, but managed to do it on the right side... Then I felt warmth with my fingers. I managed to hit the artery but kept cutting instead of going down the trachea…

Then the guard pulled my heel, I fell down and hit my head. It was painful, scary, and very embarrassing. Very embarrassing because my attempt has failed. And because back then I didn’t see many ways to protect my neighbors and relatives. <...>

I want to believe that when making a verdict, Your honor will use reason, common sense, life experience, and high-school knowledge. Understanding that the investigation wasn’t entirely interested in finding the truth.

I don’t know what will happen next. I don’t know the verdict and how much time will I really spend in prison. Reality shows that not everything is in the hands of the judge, in my hands, or in the hands of any of us. But I wanted to say one thing: I am who I am and I love all of you very much. And I can’t do it differently. I will protect you however I can. I consider it my duty. And I think that it can’t happen any other way.

Your honor, I spoke a lot about everyone and everything but my expectations for myself. What you say is less important to me than how you say it. I try hard to see you not as a judge but as a person, a citizen, a professional. This will help me avoid hating you and understand you as a person who, perhaps, is in a dire situation.”

‼‼THE DICTATOR MIGHT RECEIVE $1B FROM IMF!
YOU might prevent it from happening!
We are asking for all the help of our community that we can get!
❓What is it about?
On August 23, the IMF decision will come into force meaning that Lukashenka may receive $1B which he will use to finance the regime: salaries for the riot police, judges, and support for state terrorism. This money will fund further repressions and torture, there will be more victims dead or suffering in prison.
Or they won't: if the IMF won’t give access to this money to Lukashenko. And now it’s your call.
❓How exactly would it help?
Lukashenko is running out of money. The loyalty of his manpower in the system is based on financial rewards. If riot police won't get their salaries and bonuses on time, they will be way less supportive of Lukashenko.
🔺 There are only 11 US senators on the list. All you need is to contact them on social networks with a request not to provide an access to the money to the illegitimate authorities.
👉 Senators' contacts here: https://bit.ly/US_senators_IMF
Examples of the messages:
➖ Belarus Democracy Act says the US does not recognize Lukashenka. The EU says they do not recognize Lukashenka. If it's not just words you can't let the IMF give him 1 billion!
➖ This is the time to show that the non-recognition of Lukashenka's regime has practical implications. Non-recognized regime obviously cannot claim any IMF resources.
➖ Lukashenka’s regime is no better than Maduro’s. The IMF should block access to the SDR account for him and the USA should use its voice in the IMF to make it happen!
➖ Belarus Democracy Act says the USA should block any possibility for financing Lukashenka’s regime. Please, use the voice of the United States in the IMF to prevent Lukashenka from accessing the SDR account!
➖ Please block Lukashenka from accessing Belarus's SDR account at the IMF as you did for Maduro!
You asked us many times how you can help. This is exactly the case when several minutes of your time might literally save lives.
Send the message to the senators, share this post with your network, tag the friends who can do the same thing in the comments. We need to act now!
Thank you for your help!

‼PRIME MINISTERS OF LATVIA, LITHUANIA, ESTONIA, AND POLAND MADE A JOINED STATEMENT ON THE HYBRYD ATTACK AT THE BELARUS BORDERS.

We, the Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, express our grave concern regarding the situation on the borders of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland with Belarus. It is clear to us that the ongoing crisis has been planned and systemically organized by the regime of Alexander Lukashenka. Using immigrants to destabilize neighbouring countries constitutes a clear breach of the international law and qualifies as a hybrid attack against the Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and thus against the entire European Union.

In such situation, unprecedented for our region, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland value the clear commitment by the EU and it’s Member States to stand together in protecting the EU’s external border. Unity and urgent diplomatic, financial and technical support by the EU and its Member States is key to responding effectively to the challenge posed by the Lukashenka´s regime.
It is equally important to jointly use all available diplomatic and practical means to cut the new irregular migration routes at its inception, as soon as possible.
In the EU we need to use this momentum to rethink our approach towards the protection of our borders. We firmly believe that the protection of European external border is not just the duty of individual Member States but also the common responsibility of the EU. Hence, proper political attention should be paid to it on the EU level and sufficient funding allocated.

We also believe that it is high time to bring the issue of abusing migrants on the Belarussian territory to the attention of the UN, including the United Nations Security Council. We urge the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to take active steps to facilitate the solution of this situation and to require the Republic of Belarus to comply with its international obligations assumed, inter alia, under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. We also urge the UNHCR office in Minsk to make immediate meaningful efforts to address the matter with the Belarusian authorities.

Belarus must assume its full responsibility for people whose arrival to its territory it has organised itself. It is unacceptable that people who have arrived in Belarus are being unlawfully directed to the EU external border, to be later prevented from returning to their countries of residence.

Weaponizing refugees and immigrants threatens the regional security of the European Union and constitutes a grave breach of human rights. Such behaviour should be condemned in strongest terms by the whole democratic community.

We are ready to provide all necessary protection to persons who enter our countries on conditions under the international refugee law and our obligations but we will take all necessary actions, including advancing advocating for the possible new restrictive measures by the EU to prevent any further illegal immigration orchestrated by the Belarusian state.

We, the Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland urge Belarusian authorities to avoid any further escalation in our bilateral relations and with the European Union. The only way to solve the existing political crisis in Belarus is to launch a genuine internal dialogue with all internal political forces interested in shaping the future of Belarus, the representatives of the Belarusian civil society, including those in exile and to release all political prisoners including national minorities and to organize free and fair elections as soon as possible.