Alena Shalayeva is a correspondent for Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
Lawyers say the last vestiges of judicial independence and defense advocacy have been destroyed since the brutal crackdown on dissent by Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka following pro-democracy protests in 2020.
Belarusian blogger and critic Syarhey Tsikhanouski was the first person arrested in Alyaksandr Lukashenka's heavy-handed crackdown leading up to his internationally contested presidential win in August 2020, and he's spent much of the time since in solitary confinement.
After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, hundreds of thousands of children from hard-hit areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia spent summer vacations in the West to get away, even for a short time, from the irradiated region. Among them: today's Belarusian opposition leader, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Twenty-five years ago, two Americans’ attempt to win a prestigious balloon race ended in tragedy over Belarus.
As they defend fellow citizens swept up in the state's crackdown on postelection protests, Belarusian lawyers face a rising caseload -- and often find themselves targeted for arrest and detention as well.
A 72-year-old woman in Belarus has racked up more than $16,000 in fines for taking part in decades of demonstrations and protests, many alone and holding the banned Belarusian first republic flag.
