Belarus targets opposition activists with raids and property seizures

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Authorities in Belarus have announced raids and the seizure of property of 104 opposition activists who have fled the country. The action announced on Thursday was the latest step in the crackdown on dissent that has continued unabated for nearly four years. Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko unleashed the crackdown in August 2020. That’s when mass protests erupted against his rule following his disputed reelection that the opposition and the West have denounced as rigged. More than 35,000 people have been arrested, thousands have been brutally beaten in custody and dozens of independent news organizations and rights groups have been shut down. Around 500,000 people have since fled the country of 9.5 million.