{"id":206395,"date":"2026-10-06T17:39:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/206395\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T17:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:39:15","slug":"lukasenka-regime-adapts-reprisals-to-maximize-reach-think-tank","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/206395\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka regime adapts reprisals to maximize reach \u2013 think tank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

October 6, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime has been adapting reprisals to maximize their reach while minimizing the resources required to sustain them, says<\/a> a recent study by the Center for New Ideas think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authors Maksim Znak, a former political prisoner and lawyer, and researcher Juryj Kozika\u016d identified a shift from punishing individuals for specific actions to applying \u201cextremist\u201d or \u201cterrorist\u201d designations as one of the key features of this approach. Reprisals thus extend to entire social structures or groups, allowing the authorities to persecute a wide range of people, they stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scope of punitive powers has grown between 2020 and 2026, as more actors have become involved in reprisals. Non-security state bodies and private entities have also joined the broader repressive system, according to the study. The changes point to a move from traditional institutions such as courts toward coercive and administrative mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reprisals do not stop when a person serves a sentence or leaves Belarus, as the authorities can continue to control people for years, including after they leave the country, through post-prison supervision, bans and restrictions and trials in absentia, researchers noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other trends in the expansion of repression identified in the study include framing the fight against \u201cextremism\u201d as a matter of state security, expanding digital surveillance and censorship and encouraging people to monitor dissenters. It also pointed to the growing militarization of youth education and the use of family life, including threats to remove children, as a tool of pressure against regime critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities can always find grounds to persecute their political opponents, including alleged violations that never occurred, the study said, noting that anyone who openly disagreed with the authorities or simply spent time abroad may risk politically-motivated reprisals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reprisals: Israeli businessman arrested at border after phone check<\/h3>\n
September 29, Pozirk. Sources in Belarus reported a new arrest at the border, several verdicts passed in absentia and other incidents of repression between September 26 and 28. Below is Pozirk\u2019s recap of what was reported on that day: Law enforcers arrested …<\/div>\n \n