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The leader of UCP, the main centre-right party of Belarus and long time partner of the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, was detained by Belarusian police on March 22nd. Nikolaj Kazlou has since been taken to the Akrestyna detention center, known for its brutality and torture of political prisoners. With the arrest of Kazlou, approximately 298 political prisoners are now detained or arrested in Belarus.

 The leader of the Moderate Party, Ulf Kristersson, has called for the release of Kazlou and other political prisoners. In a statement released Tuesday evening, Mr. Kristersson said that it is crucial for the world community and the European Union to continue the political pressure on the dictatorship in Belarus. ”The democratic movement in Belarus has shown unprecedented courage, and the democratic world must stand by their side”, Mr. Kristersson emphasized.

Following the arrest of the opposition leader Niki Melia in the end of February, the political crisis has emerged in Georgia with escalated tensions between the government and the opposition. The president of the European Council, Mr. Charles Michel, visited Tbilisi in the beginning of March to facilitate a dialogue between political stakeholders in Georgia. Now, he has appointed Swedish diplomat Christian Danielsson as his special envoy to engage in EU-backed dialogues between the government and the opposition. Mr. Danielsson, who currently heads the EU Commissions representation in Sweden, has previously served as deputy secretary general for the commission as well as director-general for neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations. He is expected to visit Georgia in the coming days. His appointment has been welcomed by the president of Georgia, Ms. Salome Zurabishvili.

Following yesterday’s forming of a new government, led by hardliner prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, the leader of the opposition Niki Melia was today brutally arrested at the headquarters of his party, UNM.

Seen as a hardliner and political apprentice of former prime minister and Russian businessman Benidzi Ivanishvili, Mr. Garibashvili stated in parliament – before the formal election of prime minister – that the UNM is a ”criminal organization”. He directly confronted his opponents with threats to further increase pressure on the opposition.

Garibashvili succeeded former prime minster Giorgi Gakharia, who surprisingly announced the government’s resignation after having opposed the politically motivated calls for the detention of the country’s opposition leader, Nika Melia. Now, with a new hardline government, the pressure and harassment of the country’s democratic opposition continues with brutal force.

Following the snap elections in Kosovo on February 14th – the fifth round of elections in eleven years – Kosovo will soon have a new government under the leadership of Albin Kurti.

Albin Kurti, who is a former student revolutionary leader, won the elections with a landslide. The opposition, including the cooperation party of Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, LDK, worked hard but ended up third in place and will now form the opposition in the country.

The new government faces several challenges. The pandemic is tormenting Kosovo, with over 120.000 cases of infection and no government plan to start procuring nor handing out vaccines to the public. Besides the pandemic situation, unemployment is on a record high level, with almost one third of the country’s population out of work and a national economy on decline.

The relationship with Serbia is worse off than in years, especially following the stalled discussions between Prishtina and Belgrade last year. The new Kurti government however, has clearly stated that dialogue with Serbia is not a priority, and that it rather wishes to see Kosovo in a closer union with Albania.

The Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation continues to monitor the developments closely and will work with our regional and national partners in promoting freedom, democracy and rule of law.

From January 29-31, 2021 members of the youth organization from VMRO-DPMNE met in Skopje to attend the conference Principles for a Free Society.

During the event they had the opportunity to discuss about democracy, human rights, freedom, justice and other political topics which are important for the youth.

On January 28th, the Royal Court of Sweden announced that Göran Lennmarker, former Member of Parliament and former Chairman of the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, will receive His Majesty the King’s medal in the 12th size with blue ribbon. The royal medal is one of the highest awards in Sweden.

Göran Lennmarker was elected to the Swedish Parliament in 1991. He served as a Member of Parliament for the Moderate Party until 2010, and has held various positions such as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Committe on EU Affairs. Mr. Lennmarker was Chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly 2006-2008, and Chairman of Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation between 2009 and 2017.

He is awarded the medal with the motivation ”for outstanding public service”. His Majesty the King will present Mr. Lennmarker with the medal at the Royal Palace when a safe ceremony can be held with regard to the pandemic.

The political activist Aleksei Navalny was immediately arrested when returning to Russia. He returned after receiving medical care in Germany after the Kremlin ordered assassination attempt in October. He was charged with accusations of crimes connected to money laundering and was firstly sentenced to 30 days in Russian prison.

The arrest of Aleksei Navalny sparked nationwide protests in Russia, leading to rallies with tens of thousands of peaceful protesters on January 23rd, demanding the immediate release of the jailed political activist and calls for president Vladimir Putin to resign. Rallies and demonstrations were held in over 100 Russian cities with 50.000 attendees in Moscow. International media reported that at least 3.500 protesters were detained by Russian police in the aftermath of the protests.

All these numbers mark a record for Russian anti-Putin protests in several years. The crackdown from the Russian government has also been directed towards the team and family of Navalny, with his wife being arrested together with the heads of his offices in both St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Navalnys return to Russia has sent shockwaves in the country, as well as in the Kremlin. Although himself behind bars, the team of Navalny published a video documentary showing the enormous palace near the Black Sea – estimated to over 1.4 billion dollars of worth – claimed to have been built for Vladimir Putin with Russian tax money. The documentary has been viewed on Youtube over 100 million times.

The protests in Russia should also be seen as acts of solidarity with the Belarusian nationwide protests. It was allegedly reported that several crowds in Russia chanted ”Long live Belarus” and waived with the red-and-white flags of Belarus, which is still banned in the country.

Aleksei Navalny’s team issued a statement from Navalny on Thursday 28th of January, seen as a motivational imperative ahead of the planned nationwide demonstrations which are to be held in the coming weekend. Navalny said:

“Come on out, don’t be afraid of anything. Nobody wants to live in a country where tyranny and corruption reign. The majority is on our side.”

Navalny, along with other oppositional activists in Russia, has promised to stay on with the demonstrations every Saturday. In his own case, the date February 2nd is of crucial importance. That is when the Russian court will determine whether or not he will be sentenced to three-and-half years in Russian prison.

He has stated publicly that he does not intend to committ suicide, if he were to be found dead in prison with the authorities falsely claiming suicidie. The chilling statement of Navalny really indicates the brutality, force and reprecussions that politicial activitists face in Russia.

The week after midsummer 2020, Belarusian blogger and freelance journalist Ihar Losik was brutally arrested by the Belarusian secret service. Losik, 28 years old and with a newly born daughter at home, was charged with ”organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order” and brought to the Akrestsina prison. The Akrestsina prison has been internationall recognised as one of the most hardline detainment centers in Belarus, with several documented cases of torture.

On December 15th 2020, fresh charges were presented to Ihar Losik. Belarusian authorities charged him under Article 342 of the Criminal Code – ”preparation for participation in mass riots”. This could eventually lead to over 8 years sentence in Belarusian high security prison. When Ihar Losik was faced with these charges, he decided to start a hunger strike.

The hunger strike of Ihar Losik has stirred a new pressure on the dictatorship of Lukashenko, which has previously experienced severe backlashes in its strife to remain in power at all costs. It added to the personal failure of Aleksandr Lukashenko as it was announced that the long planned International Championships of icehockey, scheduled to be held in Belarus and Latvia 2021, was withdrawn from Belarus.

The past weekend, Belarus saw one of the largest days of peaceful protests as thousands of people took to the streets in rallies of solidarity of Ihar Losik. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for his immediate relase. As did Jan Eliasson, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, who released a statement on Twitter, stating ”Violent repression of opposition in Belarus is doomed to fail. Time is running out but there is still a chance for the government to change course, release political prisoners and start serious dialogue.”

And after 42 days, Ihar Losik ended his hunger strike. His lawyer – one of few people being able to meet with Losik in his prison – issued a statement from Losik. The decision to end the hunger strike was because of Losiks deteriorating health, the lack of medical assistance in his prison and the fact that his hunger strike had resounding effect. It was reported that dozens of other political prisoners had started hunger striking themselves in solidarity with Ihar Losik.

In his statement, Ihar Losik said:

”And I know that many also went on hunger strikes while I was on hunger strike too. I cannot take on such a great burden of responsibility, I do not want others to suffer due to my conscious choice. When reading all your requests in the letters, I realized that I simply cannot upset and make my family and all of you worry.

I never had a desire to somehow stand out, I did not seek publicity.

I just wanted to live in peace and raise my daughter. But I was forced to resort to this extreme measure.”

He concluded:

”By my action, I drew attention not only to my case, but also to the situation with political prisoners in our country. Now people are talking about us all loudly and are demanding the release of the innocent people who were arrested and convicted using all possible avenues. This means a lot. I hope that the topic of political prisoners will not disappear from the agenda with the end of my hunger strike. Thank you all again for your support and solidarity”.

Ihar Losik is still jailed because of his tireless efforts and hard work for a free and democratic Belarus. He has now been in jail as a political prisoner for 214 days. He was unable to celebrate his daughter’s 1st birthday in January. He hasn’t met his wife for months and according to his lawyer, has forgot the sound of his daughters voice.

Ihar Losik is not alone. Since the Presidential elections in August 2020, more than 32.000 Belarusians have been arrested, 900 political prisoners have been jailed and 8 Belarusian protesters been arbitrarily killed by Lukashenkas security forces. And yet still – the peaceful protests for a free and democratic Belarus. continue every day.

Amnesty International calls on the international community to enhance its efforts to establish mechanisms for further investigations on the ongoing brutality shown to ordinary Belarusians claiming their freedom.

A report publiced by Amnesty International on the 27th of January reveals the ongoing and emerging crackdown on peaceful protesters in Belarus.

The leader of democratic Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has previously testified about the growing violence and abuse of both protesters and political prisoners. More than 900 criminal cases against protesters have been launched since August 2020. More than 150 political prisoners are being held in custody in Belarus as of January 2021.

Reports indicate how the violent reprecussions of protesters take place in the streets and in several detention centers and prisons controlled by Belarusian security service. Protesters have been tortured, harassed, stripped naked and been left for hours without food or water. In the past days, the attorney of political prisoner and freelance journalist Ihar Losik – who led a hunger strike for 42 days in December and January – has stated that the political prisoners lack proper medical care.

The Akrestina detention camp, in which Ihar Losik has spent most of his time since his arbitrary arrest in June 2020, is widely known for the torture and beating of prisoners. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in December 2020, more than 27.000 Belarusians have been held there after arbitrary arrests.

Meanwhile, no criminal investigations against members of the security service, police officers or authority officials have been launched by the judiciary in Belarus. The murder of civilian protester Raman Bandarenka, who was allegedly kidnapped and beaten to death by the security service controlled by president Aleksandr Lukashenka, has not been subject to any criminal investigation or arrest of the perpetrators.

Belarus is bound to international conventions prohibiting torture and arbitrary arrests of civilians. The office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has launched an effort of collecting evidence of the violent crackdowns and harassments of civilians in Belarus. That effort is proceeding.