Since the brutal crackdown following the disputed 2020 presidential election in Belarus, hundreds of thousands of citizens have fled the country under the rule of Alexander Lukashenko. Yet, even beyond Belarus’s borders, dissidents and critics find themselves relentlessly pursued and subjected to threats, extending to their families who remain behind.
Authorities in Minsk frequently label opposition activists as “traitors” plotting coups with Western support. They justify targeting individuals abroad by claiming these actions are necessary to protect national security and prevent the overthrow of the government.
Methods of Intimidation and Pursuit
The tactics employed by Belarusian security services, which have been compared to those of the Soviet KGB updated with modern technology, are varied and pervasive.
Exiled Belarusians often receive messages and phone calls. These communications can range from seemingly harmless inquiries to thinly veiled threats or conditional offers designed to solicit information.
Journalist Tatsiana Ashurkevich, 26, who continued her reporting from exile, discovered the pressure tactics firsthand when the door of her Minsk apartment was sealed with construction foam. She suspected it was linked to her work and confronted an Instagram follower who had sent persistent messages. The individual’s tone shifted from unsolicited compliments to an official line, offering help with potential criminal cases in exchange for information about Belarusians fighting for Ukraine. Ashurkevich blocked the contact.
Leveraging Fear for Relatives
A particularly effective and cruel strategy involves targeting the relatives of dissidents who are still in Belarus. Numerous individuals interviewed report that their family members have received visits from the authorities. This creates immense fear among exiles, many of whom have stopped participating in opposition gatherings abroad out of concern for their loved ones’ safety. The inability to return home or offer support to these family members causes profound distress.
These fears are well-founded. Artem Lebedko, 39, who worked in real estate and had not spoken out publicly, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for “financing extremism” simply because his father was an opposition politician living in exile.
Journalist and analyst Hanna Liubakova, also sentenced in absentia, highlights that breaking the ties between Belarusians who have fled and those who stayed is a deliberate government strategy. The state publishes lists of critics labeled as “extremists and terrorists,” making people in Belarus hesitant to communicate with them. Liubakova herself reported that her relatives received visits from security services, and property registered in her name was seized.
Legal Persecution from Afar
A significant escalation in the regime’s tactics came with a 2022 decree allowing criminal cases and trials against exiled political opponents in absentia. Human rights group Viasna reports that over 200 such cases have been opened since the decree, with 2023 seeing a record number.
This mechanism enables authorities to raid the homes of the accused and harass their families. Prominent opposition figures like Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and her press secretary Anna Krasulina, both living in exile, have been sentenced in absentia to lengthy prison terms (15 and 11 years respectively) on serious charges like preparing a coup and running an extremist organization.
Critics are actively identified through photographs and videos from opposition meetings held outside Belarus, enabling the regime to build cases against them.
International Collaboration and Exhaustion
Some countries cooperate with the Belarusian regime in its pursuit of critics. Russia, in particular, has proved unsafe for Belarusian exiles. Authorities in Minsk reported that Russia extradited 16 people accused of “extremist crimes” in 2022 alone, a charge frequently used against Lukashenko’s critics.
While not every attempt to recruit or pressure dissidents succeeds, the broad net cast by the authorities aims to exhaust and demoralize activists. Andrei Strizhak, head of Bysol, a group supporting Belarusian activists, describes the regime’s efforts as a “war of attrition.” He notes the increasing effort required for dissidents to maintain their resilience under constant pressure.
Those subjected to this pervasive persecution believe it stems from Lukashenko’s personal desire for revenge following the 2020 protests. The objective, they feel, is to make critics feel unsafe and constantly watched, even abroad, in a relentless effort to crush all forms of opposition, wherever it may reside.
