Belarus arrests well-known analyst as crackdown on opposition continues

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Police in Belarus have arrested a well-known political analyst who is the husband of an imprisoned journalist in the country’s relentless crackdown on opposition to authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The Interior Ministry on Tuesday showed Ihar Ilyash handcuffed in custody but did not say why he was detained.

Ilyash is married to Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, who is serving an eight-year prison term after being convicted of treason.

Bakhvalava, a correspondent for the Poland-funded Belsat satellite channel, was one of the first journalists arrested in the crackdown that began in 2020 after protests gripped Belarus in the wake of a presidential election whose disputed results gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office.

Lukashenko, in office since 1994, has consistently suppressed opposition and independent news media. The repression intensified in 2020, and opposition leaders have fled the country or are imprisoned.

Ilyash, who wrote for online news outlets that Belarus authorities have deemed extremist, was twice jailed for 15 days each time in 2020 and 2021.

The Belarusian human rights organization Viasna counts 1,299 political prisoners currently in the country, including its Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder Ales Bialiatski.