(Prague, Czech Republic) RFE organized an exclusive conference call discussion on March with former Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich. Mikhalevich was arrested in Minsk on December 19 -- the day of the disputed election that returned Alyaksandr Lukashenka to power -- and spent two months in a Belarusian prison. Eventually placed under house arrest by the KGB, Mikhalevich managed to escape Belarus and was granted political asylum in the Czech Republic. He offered a first-hand account of his imprisonment and the ongoing crackdown on political opposition in Belarus.
In an RFE exclusive, Mikhalevich said Alexander Lukashenka is "doing a lot to help the opposition unify" in Belarus. "Even people like me, who are ready to work with the government, are being driven into open, radical opposition. So I think that precisely after December 19, after that night of mass arrests and cracked heads, unifying will be much more likely."
In an RFE exclusive, Mikhalevich said Alexander Lukashenka is "doing a lot to help the opposition unify" in Belarus. "Even people like me, who are ready to work with the government, are being driven into open, radical opposition. So I think that precisely after December 19, after that night of mass arrests and cracked heads, unifying will be much more likely."
