Belarus Intensifies Crackdown on Election Observers Ahead of Vote

Activists forced to sign warnings against 'extremist activities', face detention and home raids, as human rights center reports 1,474 political prisoners.

• Belarusian security services are reportedly breaking into apartments and detaining people in their workplaces across the country, carrying out hundreds of searches among election observers ahead of next year's vote.
• Activists are being forced to sign warnings against 'promoting extremist activities', a charge previously levelled at democracy activists that carries up to seven years in prison.
• Representatives from the main intelligence service, the KGB, are forcing activists who were observers in the last presidential election to record 'repentance videos'.
• Since President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election in August 2020, authorities have detained more than 35,000 people, many of them tortured in custody while others fled the country.
• According to the Belarusian human rights center Viasna, there are 1,474 political prisoners behind bars, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.

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