Opinione: cinque anni dopo, la Bielorussia affonda più a fondo nell’autocrazia

I have played enough civilization 5 to know that autocracy is decent social policy. You get lots of production bonuses. Better than freedom.

Don’t think that Belarus being an autocracy is a coincidence. There is strong support for autocracy in a country like that. Look at Hungary or Russia. Democracy works only temporarily until they vote themselves back into autocracy.

Порядок в стране принято называть автократией. Что же такое демократия? 

**They used to be some of the best barometers of public sentiment: taxi drivers. In Belarus, like in many places, a few minutes in a cab would give you the political weather forecast of the day.**

That was certainly true in the autumn of 2020, during the mass protests that followed President Alexander Lukashenko’s rigged re-election.

Back then, cab drivers were often better informed than the state-censored internet.

They knew where demonstrations were unfolding, which streets were blocked by police, where beatings and arrests had taken place—and they spoke freely, even defiantly, about the regime.

Today, it’s a different story.

On a recent ride, I tried striking up a conversation on the same topics. The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror and said grimly: “You probably don’t know, but the company forced us to install microphones and cameras in our cars. We now have to turn in the memory cards to management.”

We spent the rest of the journey in silence.

That hush extends to public transport as well. Trains and minibuses—once lively arenas of political debate—have gone quiet. Most passengers wear headphones and keep their eyes fixed on their phones. The wave of repression that began five years ago continues unabated. Few are willing to risk becoming the next victim of the system.

It might seem like Lukashenko has succeeded in silencing the nation. But even under a thick layer of ice, rivers still flow.

# Purge of civic groups

Since the crackdown, nearly 1,900 independent civic organisations have been forcibly dissolved, according to Belarusian human rights groups

The purge began with independent media and human rights NGOs, then moved on to higher-profile groups led by well-known activists.

Even nature conservation groups weren’t spared. The head of BirdLife Belarus, Viktar Fenchuk, received a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a high-security prison for participating in protests.

Eventually, even local hobby groups and community organisations were dismantled.

The regime’s goal? To eliminate any platform for civic engagement not under direct ideological control.

Deeper where?