Bad News from Belarus. Again.

To tell you the truth, I do not remember reading ANY good news from Belarus since December of 2010 when Aliaksandr Lukashenka has re-elected himself for yet another term in the office. These two developments, however, seem particularly troubling for the Belarusian citizens who attempt to escape the ruthless dictatorship imposed upon them.

Firstly, it seems that the Belarusian authorities are actively pursuing their INTERPOL resources to track down the persons who have fled abroad from the regime. There is one case handled by our office of an individual who suffered abuse by the Belarusian law enforcement because of her opposition to the Lukashenka regime. We have recently learned that the Belarusian government has inquired at least twice about her whereabouts with the United States INTERPOL bureau in Washington D.C. This evidence definitely supports her claim of being pursued by the authorities for her political opinion. While there are reports of the Belarusian government asking INTERPOL to arrest certain high-profile opposition figures who have fled abroad, our case in point is a common citizen of Belarus who dared to voice her opinion about the injustices and corruption which plague the current Belarusian government. There is a certain procedure to obtain such records form the US INTERPOL office, and if you are seeking refuge from Belarus and believe that your government may be actively searching for you, you should definitely contact our office to discuss this matter in detail.

Secondly, last week, the Russian Federal Security Service (also known as FSB) has announced that it will honor the lists of the Belarusian citizens forbidden to travel abroad by the Lukashenka regime. What it means, essentially, is that the Belarusians who suffer from persecution or are afraid of persecution, and who happen to be blacklisted by the authorities for foreign travel, will no longer be able to travel through Russia to escape the iron grip of the regime. The Russian Border Guard Service has pledged to stop such individuals at the Russian border and return them to the hands of their tormentors in Belarus. Before this announcement, travel through Russia has been one of the few available routes for the citizens of Belarus afraid of their government to escape abroad.

By Ivan Savvine, Senior Paralegal @ The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC.