BELARUS ON THE BRINK?

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BELARUS ON THE BRINK?

20th August 2020 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

On 9 August, Belarusians took to the polls in their country’s presidential election. Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the five-term president, claimed a landslide victory, but there is compelling evidence that the vote was rigged. For the past week, citizens have protested against Lukashenka’s government and the election results. These protests have led to a troubling police crackdown, which has itself prompted greater numbers of people to protest. At least two protestors have been killed, a national general strike has been called, and the country is facing its largest demonstrations in over a quarter of a century. Meanwhile, there are growing concerns that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin may attempt to intervene in his western neighbour in order to take advantage of the situation for his own purposes.

To discuss the situation in Belarus, the Henry Jackson Society is delighted to invite you to a webinar featuring: Nigel Gould-Davis (International Institute of Strategic Studies, and former UK Ambassador to Belarus); Natalia Kaliada (Belarus Free Theatre); Bill Browder (Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign); and, a representative of the Belarus-based International Strategic Action Network for Security (iSANS). The panellists will discuss the likely outcome of the protests, whether the protests can bring about a democratic transition, and what the West could (and should) do to both support the protestors and hold Lukashenka’s regime to account for its actions.

Register here to attend

 

 

 

Bill Browder

An American-born British financier and political activist, and is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management. He was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005, when he was denied entry to the country and declared “a threat to national security” for exposing corruption in Russian state-owned companies. In 2008, Mr. Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, uncovered a massive fraud committed by Russian government officials that involved the theft of US $230 million of state taxes. Sergei testified against state officials involved in this fraud and was subsequently arrested, imprisoned without trial and systematically tortured. He spent a year in prison under horrific detention conditions, was repeatedly denied medical treatment, and died in prison on November 16, 2009, leaving behind a wife and two children. Since then, Mr. Browder has sought justice outside of Russia and started a global campaign for governments around the world to impose targeted visa bans and asset freezes on human rights abusers and highly corrupt officials.

Nigel Gould-Davies

Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). Prior to joining IISS, he taught international relations at Mahidol University in Thailand. From 2000-10 he served in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where his roles included head of the economics department in Moscow, Ambassador to Belarus, and project director in the Strategy Unit. From 1996-2000 he taught politics and international relations at Oxford University. He is author of Tectonic Politics: Global Political Risk in an Age of Transformation (Brookings, 2019). Nigel holds a bachelors and masters from Oxford University and a PhD from Harvard.

Natalia Kaliada

Director of Creative Politics Hub and co-founding Artistic Director of Belarus Free Theatre (BFT), a campaigning theatre company. She is also an award-winning theatre-maker, writer and director. As an internationally renowned diplomat and human rights campaigner Natalia has pioneered a unique method of transversal lobbying and campaigning, uniting artistic, geopolitical, environmental and human rights concerns, to bring systematic change to different societies. After a brutal crackdown in Belarus in 2010, Natalia and her family were forced into exile and they currently reside in the UK.

Details

Date:
20th August 2020
Time:
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Website:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3115976635363/WN_yuAtnzJuRWeuvaInoIlaGA

Venue

Online
United Kingdom

Organiser

Henry Jackson Society
Phone
+44 (0) 20 7340 4520
Email
rsvp@henryjacksonsociety.org

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