An open Belarus is a threat to President Lukashenko´s dictatorship. Sanctions and isolation will strengthen the status quo, said representatives from the Belarusian opposition when they visited the Human Rights House in Oslo the 18th of November a conference organised by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and NUPI, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. (22-NOV-04).

-10 millions citizens have become Lukashenko´s hostages in Belarus. Please, bring us back to Europe. Zhanna Litvina, the leader of the Belarusian Assosiation of Journalist appealed to the European governments to cooperate with the Belarusian NGOs. The NGOs are the greatest threat to the sitting regime, she said and asked the Western Europe for political and financial support.

Political repression

At the conference “ Belarus – after the parliamentarian election and referendum” the three representatives from the opposition confirmed the violation of international standards related to the referendum and the election campaign. The election was completely falsified, said Berit Lindeman from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. She was in Belarus to observe the the election for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

– Officially president Lukashenko won the referendum in Belarus with 87 %. If the majority of the population supported the president, a new wave of political repression should not have been necessary after the referendum. But Lukashenko has only got 38 % support in the population, said Anatoliij Lebedko, the leader of the liberal United Civil Party said.  As one of the main leader of the opposition he was arrested during a demonstration after the referendum. Lebedko is part of the coalition called 5+, which includes liberals, communists and nationalists. 

A neo-authoritarian ideology

Anatoliij Lebedko characterised the political regime as a monopolised power structure with a neo-authoritarian ideology. The strict vertical leadership, the control over the electronically media and lack of independent judiciary make it very difficult for the opposition to survive.
-In Western Europe election and referendum are words associated with democracy and freedom. In Belarus we have a system based on lukashism; a mixture of fascism, populism and chauvinism.

The use of fear is one of the regime’s instruments to control the citizens. Since almost 80% of the people are employed within the state agency they are not independent. One of the governmental newspapers, which was distributed to 3,5 millions citizens before the election stated that a change in the political leadership would lead to more criminality and an economic backlash.

The situation of the mass media

Zhanna Litvina referred to the fact that 19 newspapers have been closed down the last ten months. Most of the independent newspapers have to operate underground. She mentioned several journalists, whom have been arrested and punished for insult of the president in accordance with the New Criminal Code.

In spite of the difficult situation, the leader of the regional Reource centre Ratusja , Alexander Milinkevitsj stressed the positive developments during the election campaign.
-The election campaign gave us the possibility to get in contact with ordinary people. We discovered the will of political change in the population. Milinkevitsj said there is important to use the experiences from the grassroots movements in Poland and Lithuania to strengthen the opposition in Belarus.