Source: nn.by

Last week, the Belarusian Economic Research and Outreach Center (BEROC) held its second Annual International Economics Conference in Minsk.

Unknown to most Germans, Belarus only pops up in their consciousness during the elections in the country. This is also due to the fact that German reporters cover events in Minsk from Moscow or Warsaw, which is why articles appear rarely and show a lack of understanding for what is going on in Belarus.

On the election day grim news of violence on Minsk’s Independence Square appeared in all major US newspapers. The media invariably used an appositive “post-Soviet state” and many papers reprinted stories by The Associated Press.

The recent presidential elections in Belarus have received significant attention in Polish press. All major media such as Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita followed the events related to the elections.

Very few remember that in 1993, the Belarus House of Government was stormed by some Alexander Lukashenka who was then a member of the Belarus parliament. Police did not let Mr Lukashenka inside the building, but he was breaking through with persistency, pushing the men in uniform at the entrance and waving his arms. He also had a support group with him. The journalists were filming the event. Lukashenka's jacket was damaged during that clash.

Bloody clashes in Minsk last Sunday were unprecedentedly shocking for many people even not interested in politics. And perhaps for the first time one can hear common people here in Belarus condemning police and authorities for beatings and maiming of undoubtedly innocent citizens, some of them were just young girls. While closely watching Belarusian politics since 1995, I cannot remember any other elections which caused such a massive rage against the regime.

Very few remember that in 1993, the Belarus House of Government was stormed by some Alexander Lukashenka who was then a member of the Belarus parliament. Police did not let Mr Lukashenka inside the building, but he was breaking through with persistency, pushing the men in uniform at the entrance and waving his arms. He also had a support group with him. The journalists were filming the event. Lukashenka's jacket was damaged during that clash.

The Guardian, a leading British newspaper, described the recent violence and torture used by the Belarus authorities following the rigged presidential elections. The newspaper calls Alyaksandr Lukashenka the European Mugabe. It also quotes Belarusian analysts who think that the main reason for police brutality and massive repressions was the need to instill fear in Belarusian people. That fear has weakened when Mr Lukashenka was playing with the West over the last couple of years. He needed a more liberal appearance to secure EU's support for funds from the World Bank, the IMF and European banks. He has gotten it all. Now that Russia is once again willing to provide him with subsidized oil, Mr Lukashenka no longer needs money from the West and can be true to himself. The Guardian describes torture techniques used against hundreds of demonstrators, following their beatings and arrests: Natalia Koliada of the Belarus Free Theatre was among those rounded up last Sunday, after she and others protested against president Alexander Lukashenko's shameless stealing of yet another presidential election. She told Index on Censorship that she was held for 14 hours and not allowed water, food or sleep. Detainees of both sexes were kept in freezing prison corridors, abused by guards ("You are animals ... Our dream is to kill you"), and obliged to defecate in front of each other.

By convening tens of thousands in the post-election protest, the democratic opposition achieved all it could. The false impression of a democratic election was destroyed. Despite the cold weather, 2010 protest was much more impressive than the protests in 2006 or 2001.

Yesterday Belarus authorities announced criminal charges against former presidential candidates. Also charged are their aides and journalists – eighteen people in total. These people are already kept in a special KGB prison and are likely to be used as hostages in the future diplomatic war with the West.