Presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevic flees Belarus following KGB torture
Ales Mikhalevic, a prominent Belarusian presidential candidate who testified publicly that he was tortured in KGB custody, has fled the country, The Independent has learned. The 36-year-old father of two is just one of several opposition politicians who ran against Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko and were promptly charged with mass rioting in the aftermath of last December’s disputed elections. More than 700 pro-democracy activists have been arrested in what human rights groups and foreign governments say is a brutal crackdown opposition forces within Europe’s last dictatorship. In a posting on his own blog, Mr Mikhalevich announced that he was now “out of reach of the KGB” after being summoned to return for questioning at a detention centre run by Belarus’ secret police.
“I have grounds to believe that I would not be able to leave the building of the KGB any more,” he wrote. “So I’m not going to visit the KGB. Now I am in a safe place out of reach of the Belarusian KGB. I am going to continue the work on putting an end to tortures and release of everyone who are unlawfully imprisoned on political reasons.”
AWIP: In Europe's last dictatorship, all opposition is mercilessly crushed