Jailed for waving flowers in the street or holding tea parties: Life in the newly totalitarian state

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of Belarus

Lilia Suboch startles every time her doorbell rings. Her mother, sister, and brother have all been jailed for minor infractions, and her home of the outskirts of Minsk was raided two days earlier, leaving her terrified she will be next.

Eight months after a popular uprising nearly toppled Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president of 26 years, authorities are rounding up hundreds of people and slapping them with short prison sentences for the most minor infractions, sowing fear in a country in the centre of Europe that is quickly turning into a totalitarian state.

Mrs Suboch’s relatives are all being kept at the same infamous detention centre. Her sister is serving 25 days, her mother five and brother six days in custody.

Protests in Belarus erupted in August when Mr Lukashenko was handed a landslide victory in a rigged election.

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But the Belarusian regime did not crack, and punished the dissent by unleashing what Belarusians call a “steamroller of repressions”.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jailed-waving-flowers-street-holding-171722029.html