Natalia Kaliada is co-founder of the Belarus Free Theatre. The group, formed in 2005, performs provocative political works in a country where it can be lethal to criticise the dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Natalia was forced into exile after the brutal crackdown on Belarus’s opposition after the rigged 2010 presidential elections. Here she speaks to Nigel Warburton about the difficulty of creating art in Europe’s last dictatorship
Belarus has now vowed to hold accountable those involved in parachuting teddy bears from a Swedish plane with slogans of human rights into the country, after initially denying their existence. Now there are fears for young journalist Anton Suryapin. Andrei Aliaksandrau reports (more…)
A young Belarusian journalist has been arrested and detained – for taking photographs of teddy bears the government denies exist. Andrei Aliaksandru reports(more…)
Despite a deplorable human rights record, Belarus will host the 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship. German MP Marina Schuster argues organisers should take the competition elsewhere
President Alexander Lukashenko on the ice during a match on 8 September 2011.
Index on Censorship’s Mike Harris joined a panel debate at the OSCE parallel conference on adopting a joint resolution on Belarus, giving consideration to the country’s suspension from the OSCE, which will now go to the Council of Ministers.
Two more foreign banks halt cooperation with Belarus after German Chancellor Angela Merkel tells Index on Censorship and Free Belarus Now that she would intervene to stop Deutsche Bank from selling government bonds to Europe’s last dictatorship.
Minsk is as close to Berlin as London is. Yet, an iron curtain separates the two capitals. In 2011, over a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the nation of Belarus holds out as the last dictatorship in Europe, writes John Kampfner (more…)
Eleven Belarusian political prisoners who were released this week after a presidential pardon have been named. They are Pavel Vinahradau, Fyodra Mirzayanuu, Alyaksandr Klaskouski, Uladzimir Loban, Dzmitry Novik, Alyaksandr Atroshchankau , Alyaksandr Mauchanau, Aleh Fedarkevich, Dzmitry Bulanau, Illya Vasilevich and Mikita Likhavid,
Read more about Belarus’s political prisoners here
