How are Belarus dissidents pursued and threatened in exile abroad

The dissidents who escaped Alexander Lukashenko’s reign in Belarus spoke of threats against them and their relatives at home.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have estimated that they have left their country after the brutal repression of widespread opposition protests in 2020 after the 70 -year -old Lukashenko said the victory in the presidential election, which were widely convicted as counterfeit.

Among the exiles was journalist Tatiana Ashurkevich, 26, who continued to write about events in Belarus. Then, earlier this year, she discovered that the door to her apartment in the capital Minsk had been sealed with construction foam.

She immediately realized who could be guilty. She decided to face one of her followers on Instagram, who repeatedly sent her with unsolicited compliments and views of the Belarusian opposition movement and journalism in exile.

“If there are criminal cases (against me), just say,” she said. “I have nothing to do with this apartment – other people live there. Why are you doing this?”

The man immediately changed his tone to a more official, saying that criminal cases are not his responsibility, but may ask the respective department.

Then he made a request: Can she in exchange for help to share information about the Belarusians who fight for Ukraine, especially after she wrote about them before?

Ashurkevich blocked him.

In Belarus himself, tens of thousands have been arrested over the last five years for political reasons, according to the human rights group.

But hundreds of critics of Lukashenko’s 31-year rule also encountered persecution abroad.

Lukashenko and Belarusian state media often accuse opposition activists of “betraying” the country and thinking a coup with the help of the West. Authorities have justified aiming to activists abroad, claiming that they are trying to harm national security and overthrow the government.

Several people who have said that they have received messages and phone calls, sometimes at first glance harmless, sometimes with thin -veiled threats – or promises with catch.

Anna Krassina, 55, gets them so often that she is used to putting her phone in flight mode before she goes to bed.

“I see who is handling me – it’s a few people. Or maybe it’s the same, using different accounts,” she says.

She is convinced that the authorities are behind it. D -Ja Krassina works as a press secretary of Svetlana Tihanovskaya, an opposition leader, believed by many that they had won the 2020 election, which now live in exile.

Both women were sentenced to Belarus respectively at 11 and 15 years in trials in absentia. The fees included preparing a coup and an extremist management management.

As such trials against political opponents have become possible by a decree from Lukashenko in 2022, more than 200 cases have been found, according to Viasna, with a record number last year.

This allows authorities to attack the defendants’ homes and harass their relatives.

Critics identify in photos and videos taken at opposition gatherings abroad.

Many have now stopped participating in them, fearing their loved ones, who remain in Belarus, says Guza Krassulina.

Several people who BBC talk to report that their relatives have been visited by the authorities.

“It’s horrifying when you can’t help them. You can’t come back. You can’t support them,” one says.

No one would go on a record or even reveal any details, but anonymously by anonymous that their families could be hurt.

Their fears are not unfounded. Artem Swedo, a 39-year-old, who worked on real estate, serves a three-and-a-half prison sentence for “Extremism Funding”.

He had never spoken publicly, but his father was an opposition politician living in exile.

The destruction of the relationships between the Belarusians who have escaped and those who have remained behind is a deliberate strategy by the Lukashenko government, says journalist and analyst Hana Lyubakova, has also been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

“Even if someone in Belarus understands everything, they will think three times before talking to a terrorist,” she says, citing a list of “extremists and terrorists” that the authorities inhabit with the names of their critics.

The BBC has sent a request for a comment to the Belarusian Interior Ministry, but did not receive an answer until the time of publication.

Some of Lyubakova’s relatives have also received visits from the security services, she says, and the property registered in her name has been seized.

Anyone who has said the BBC believes that the Belarusian authorities are striving to exert maximum pressure on those who have left to crush the whole opposition wherever it is.

Hannah Lyubakova believes that the persecution of dissidents stems from Lukashenko’s personal revenge for the 2020 protests: “He wants us to feel insecure even abroad, let’s know that we are observed.”

A country that proved to be particularly dangerous to Belarusian exiles is Russia. According to Minsk authorities, in 2022 alone, Russia extradited 16 people accused of “extremist crimes”, an accusation, usually related to Lukashenko critics.

“The methods used by the Belarusian security forces are very similar to those of the Soviet KGB, just updated with modern technology,” says Andrei Stryshak, head of BYSOL, a group that supports Belarusian activists.

Threatening messages or promises of cooperation awards may not work on everyone, he adds. But by throwing a wide network, the authorities may receive several who agree to share some useful information.

Stryizhak calls on the regime’s efforts to hunt the dissidents abroad a “tingling war”, which leaves many activists to be exhausted and willing to continue their lives.

“We do our best to stay durable,” says Steishak, “But every year it takes more and more effort.”