{"id":11450,"date":"2022-07-20T08:24:57","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T05:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/crackdown-expands-schisms-in-opposition-camp\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"crackdown-expands-schisms-in-opposition-camp","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11450\/","title":{"rendered":"Crackdown expands, schisms in opposition camp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Valeryj Karbalevi\u010d, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t * Reproduction prohibited\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <b>Belarus\u2019 authorities have stepped up their crackdown on various sectors of society, while a fissure has developed in the opposition camp, with opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja facing criticism.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>New terms for opposition activists, journalist<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Belarusian authorities last week imposed new prison terms on imprisoned opponents. A court in Homiel held a hearing behind closed doors on July 13 to sentence Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachva\u0142ava), a prominent Belarusian journalist, to eight years in prison, finding her guilty of high treason.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In a separate development, officials moved to restrict foreign travel for Belarusians \u201cin the interests of national security.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In the last few weeks, authorities disbarred and arrested several lawyers and closed down independent trade unions whose leaders were held in detention waiting for trials.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t More people have been arrested and charged with inciting hatred over social media posts related to the Russian-Ukrainian war.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Mass arrests have been reported in Ivanava and Drahi\u010dyn, district capitals in the Brest region.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Laws applied retroactively<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t On June 22, a district judge in Ivanava, Brest region, imposed a fine on a local man for sharing an article that had been originally posted on the Radyjo Svaboda website as far back as 2017. Authorities branded the website extremist content in December 2021. The RFE\/RL\u2019s website operated legally in Belarus before December 2021. Its journalists were stripped of accreditation during 2020 post-election protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Although details of the high treason case against Andrejeva have not been made public, her husband Ihar Ilyja\u0161 said that the charge stemmed from an old article. \u201cKacia has been given the harsh sentence for somethings that was not even treated as an administrative offense several years ago,\u201d he said in a Facebook post.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The cases have created a precedent for the retroactive application of criminal laws.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Cichano\u016dskaja comes under fire at a conference in Berlin<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Valeryj Capka\u0142a, a former presidential hopeful, and his associates held the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> Forum of Belarus\u2019 Democratic Forces in Berlin on July 11 and 12 without opposition heavyweights Cichano\u016dskaja and Pave\u0142 \u0141atu\u0161ka being present.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cThe forum was an attempt to rally forces that consider themselves deprived of presence in the Cichano\u016dskaja\u2019s camp and are seeking to seize the agenda by establishing a new political entity,\u201d said political analyst Pave\u0142 Usau.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Speakers urged Cichano\u016dskaja to be more proactive and warned her against complacency.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Vadzim Prakopje\u016d, a former businessman turned oppositionist, suggested that Belarus\u2019 opposition forces should form a Belarusian liberation army abroad.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The forum participants vowed to establish a national liberation movement and a national council of united democratic forces, a new body of opposition in exile.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Cichano\u016dskaja\u2019s critics are clearly frustrated with the lack of progress toward their common goal of defeating Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka. They think that the former presidential candidate has not been doing enough to achieve it.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Verbal radicalism<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Some opposition activists that gained prominence during the 2020 post-election protests lack political experience. They rush things to achieve goals as soon as possible but do not know how to do it. They often employ verbal radicalism in political power struggle.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Cichano\u016dskaja emerged as opposition leader during the 2020 presidential election. Other politicians threw their weight behind her and accepted her as their leader.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Two years after the election, there is much uncertainty about how long it may take Belarus to embark on a path to democracy.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t After the government suppressed protests, Cichano\u016dskaja has somewhat faded because she does not have much influence on political processes inside the country. But her international diplomatic efforts have been very effective.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Since victory over the regime seems a distant prospect, some politicians do not consider unity important at the moment. Backbiting and warring camps is an indispensable element of the opposition in exile.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Cichano\u016dskaja and \u0141atu\u0161ka, leader of a Belarusian opposition center in Warsaw, have announced plans for holding their own convention similar to the Berlin gathering organized by Capka\u0142a.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Competition for opposition leadership has intensified. It has little effect, if any, on political developments in Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Valeryj Karbalevi\u010d, BPN * Reproduction prohibited Belarus\u2019 authorities have stepped up their crackdown on various sectors of society, while a fissure has developed in the opposition camp, with opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja facing criticism. New terms for opposition activists, journalist Belarusian authorities last week imposed new prison terms on imprisoned opponents. A court in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11450","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Crackdown expands, schisms in opposition camp | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Valeryj Karbalevi\u010d, BPN * Reproduction prohibited Belarus\u2019 authorities have stepped up their crackdown on various sectors of society, while a fissure\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11450\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crackdown expands, schisms in 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