The Belarusian opposition condemns Lukashenko and Sunday elections

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya refuses to describe what is happening this weekend in Belarus as elections.

“It is a trick,” says the exile leader. “This is an operation of a military nature, which was organized by the regime to keep power.”

For three decades, the country was increasingly ruled by the country, Alexander Lukashenko, who is now with strong support from Vladimir Putin, who used his neighbor in his comprehensive invasion of Ukraine.

This Sunday, the Belarusid will see Lukashenko's name on the ballot sheet again, with four other names carefully choosing so that you do not challenge.

Independent observers are not allowed.

Strong controls have been imposed because the last time the Belarusians voted to choose a president, the country has invaded huge protests.

In 2020, Alexander Lukashenko allowed Svyna Tikhanskakaya to run against him, believing that the political beginner – and women – will not have any effect.

It was a fatal mistake in appreciation.

Tikhanovskaya, who decided to stand in the place of her husband after Lukashenko put it in prison, victory.

When Lukashenko got 80% of the votes, the crowds came to the streets at the greatest threat of Lukashenko's rule. The protests were eventually crushed by the riot police through collective arrests and brute force.

Then the European Union refused to recognize the legitimacy of Lukashenko as president.

Today, all the main opposition figures of that period are in prison or fled abroad, such as Tikhanovskaya. The former demonstrators who were still in Belarus were forced to silence.

So the opposition leader does not urge them to get to the streets again on Sunday.

“We call on the Belarusians to reject this trick and call on the international community to reject the result,” she told the BBC. “But I tell the Belarusians, you have to maintain your safety until the real moment of possibility.

“Because people live in constant fear, and the system is now intensifying repression.”

You feel this fear immediately when you speak to the Belarusia.

Many do not want to speak publicly about politics at all. Others ask you to change their names, then choose their words carefully.

Some inside Belarus still speak only through encrypted messages that they delete immediately.

Everyone says that open political activity in the country has been extinguished.

The Bessol, a non -profit organization that helps in evacuating persons at risk, indicates a significant increase in requests to about 30 or 40 monthly requests.

Since 2020, the group has evacuated more than 1500 people.

It also supports former political prisoners trying to rebuild life in exile after their release.

For the veterinary doctor Yana Zorafleva, it was difficult.

Before 2020 she was dedicated to her work and was not particularly active. But that summer joined the huge crowds, hoping to change.

It was later sentenced to three years in prison on charges of “a serious violation of public order.”

She remembers the period in prison, saying: “We will punish everything.”

It is estimated that about 1 in 10 women were there due to the protests. Likewise, Yana was added to the list of “miles to extremism and sabotage activity.”

“You cannot go to the gym, and your only messages are from your relatives, and you get less visiting rights. If you complain, you always hear the same response: Remember the reason you are here,” told me from Poland, where you moved after her last release.

Yana admits that it is asking for a “mighty” force so that it does not slip into deep depression.

“In prison, I was barely crying. But when I got out, I suddenly wanted to cry all the time, and I didn't know why.”

Many of the people who called them have asked for psychological help, after being interrogated, threatened or imprisoned.

They describe a security device that chases anyone with a weak connection with the opposition, then asks for names from all those you hold.

The pressure never stopped.

A woman inside Belarus, who was monitoring human rights, told me that she had to stop the presence of court sessions because the authorities monitored them.

If they can prove any connection to the banned human rights organization, it may be accused of being “extremist”.

“I can do some specific support work, but I must be careful,” she told me without revealing her identity.

“You have a strong feeling of impotence when you see all this injustice.”

Viasna is currently 1256 political prisoners in Belarus. Dozens have been pardoned recently, but they were quickly replaced.

For those who escape from the pressure cooker in Belarus, there is an additional struggle that they may not return for a long time.

For this reason, Natalia, her real name, decided to stay in Belarus even after her arrest twice for her participation in the protests.

“You are very dangerous as soon as you are on the” oppressive “list,” she explains.

“You cannot get a job because you are in the police database and the authorities always watch you …”

For Natalia, this meant her arrest again, at first because of her dog's walking without a wheel.

“They claimed that I was aggressive and insulted me loudly and waved my arms,” ​​she recalls.

For more than a week, she slept on the wooden floor.

“This is really shook my sense of safety, and I became much more anxious,” Natalia recognizes.

She is currently abroad and plans to return soon to her cats. But her neighbors say that a police officer just visited her house, to examine all potential demonstrators before voting on Sunday.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya believes that constant repression shows Lukashenko and his allies are afraid.

The opposition leader says that “the shock of 2020 is still alive and he has to eliminate any possibility of the uprising,” the opposition leader says.

“He knows that the Belarusians did not accept or forgive him, and they still want to change.”

But she admits that there is little evidence of this in the short term.

For a while after the comprehensive Russian invasion of Ukraine, the people of Belarus were hoping that their neighbors would succeed in defeating Putin with the help of the West, and to follow Lukashenko.

Some went to the front lines themselves, and they chose the power after the failure of their peaceful protests.

But the Ukrainian army is now struggling to maintain the ground, and President Donald Trump is pressing for peace talks.

“The democratic world cannot make concessions to Putin”, describing Lukashenko as no less dangerous to the world.

Russia was allowed to fired missiles at Ukraine from Belarus and send its tanks through its lands.

It also allowed the free flow of migrants to the Polish border and to the European Union.

Tekanovskaya notes that “Putin is allowed to deploy nuclear weapons and his army in Belarus, a very short road to Poland and Lithuania.”

He added: “It is a duet, and they support other dictators. It is part of this series of evil.”

There is no doubt that Alexander Lukashenko will return to his position on Sunday, according to his plan.

“These people are very capable,” said Yana, the former political prisoner.

“They have already crushed the possibilities of protest.”

She is now trying to return to her profession as a veterinary doctor, but in Poland, and recover from three difficult years behind bars.

Those who have now spoke to him see Lukashenko, or his death in the end, is their greatest hope to see democracy.

Meanwhile, many change their focus: there is an increase in interest in reviving culture and the Belarusian language, an opposition issue. It is what many people dare to do in such circumstances.

Natalia admits: “No one says that publicly, but we feel that there are no horizons. There is depression,” Natalia admits.

But there is no clear remorse for that.

The life of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has changed dramatically since it entered politics.

Her husband is isolated from her country, who is also a political prisoner – and has been in full isolation for nearly two years.

The opposition leader insists that she still “really believes” in change.

“The year 2020 was a major transformation in the mentality in Belarus. I don't know how long it will take, but this shift will not disappear.”