On October 9, at the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, iSANS held a side event “New illegal instruments of persecution of political opponents by the Lukashenka regime: incommunicado detention, repeated convictions, trials in absentia and other forms of transborder repression”. The event was attended by around 30 diplomats from delegations of OSCE participating states and members of civil society. iSANS senior researcher Natasza Krawczuk and the Head of iSANS Human Rights and Rule of Law Unit Yuri Dzhibladze presented evidence of the application by the Lukashenka regime of illegal instruments of persecution of its political opponents, including incommunicado detention of political prisoners, extrajudicial execution resulting from torture and non-provision of medical services, repeated convictions aimed at keeping political prisoners in jail indefinitely, holding trials in absentia of exiled opponents of the regime and confiscation of their property, persecution of relatives of exiled critics of the regime, and the use of other forms of transborder repression. Speakers discussed recommendations for international action, including ways to ensure release of political prisoners and holding the perpetrators accountable.
