Latest Belarus government News
Poland wants the EU focused on security. Its border with Belarus highlights the challenges
POLOWCE, Poland (AP) — Poland's six-month presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. As Europe’s biggest land war in decades rages, fewer places highlight the challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values more starkly than the border with Belarus. ...
An imprisoned Nobel laureate underscores human rights abuses in Belarus
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The yellow name tag that Ales Bialiatski wears on his prison garb sets him apart from other inmates in Penal Colony No. 9 in eastern Belarus. It marks Bialiatski as a political prisoner to be singled out for harsh treatment. Because he's been labeled an...
Imprisoned Belarus activist resurfaces after being held incommunicado for over 700 days
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — An imprisoned opposition activist in Belarus resurfaced Wednesday in a video shot by a pro-government blogger after over 700 days of no contact with his family, weeks before an election that is all but certain keep the country's strongman leader in power. ...
Catholic priest in Belarus sentenced to 11 years as crackdown on dissent continues
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Catholic priest in Belarus on Monday was convicted on charges of high treason for criticizing the government and handed an 11-year sentence, in the first case of politically-driven charges against Catholic clergy since Belarus became independent in the 1991 collapse of...
Belarus' strongman leader pardons 20 more prisoners, but rights groups say repression continues
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 20 more people that rights activists describe as political prisoners, a statement on the president's website said Saturday. The announcement came amid persistent oppression in the run-up to...
Belarus convicts well-known activist and sentences him to 6 years in prison
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus convicted a well-known opposition activist and sentenced him to six years in prison, the country's oldest and most prominent human rights group, Viasna, reported Friday. The move is the latest in the unabating crackdown against dissent that the country's...
An altercation erupts at a high-level meeting of a Russia-dominated economic union
MOSCOW (AP) — A tightly-scripted meeting of the Russia-dominated economic alliance of several ex-Soviet nations briefly went awry Thursday when two leaders engaged in bickering during a live broadcast of the event. Russian President Vladimir Putin and other heads of states attended...
Belarusian authorities arrest 7 journalists who worked for an independent newspaper
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities have arrested seven journalists who worked for an independent regional news outlet, a media watchdog said Thursday, the latest move in a sweeping crackdown on dissent and freedom of speech by the country’s authoritarian President Alexander...
Belarus court jails journalist for four years for criticizing authoritarian president
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian journalist has been sentenced to four years in prison for her critical reports chronicling a sweeping crackdown on dissent launched by the country's authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Minsk City Court convicted Volha Radzivonava...
EU says asylum rights can be suspended for migrants 'weaponized' by Russia and Belarus
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday gave a greenlight to Poland and other countries on Europe’s eastern flank to temporarily suspend asylum rights when they believe that Belarus and Russia are “weaponizing” migrants to destabilize the bloc. Poland’s Prime...
