There are other signs of course and if you happen to be Belarussian I apologize for characterizing your country this unfavorably.
It could happen to anybody.
Belarus Presidential Runner-Up Sentenced to Prison
By JAMES MARSON, The Wall Street Journal
MAY 14, 2011, 6:59 P.M. ET
The runner-up in President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election in Belarus was sentenced Saturday to five years in prison, a decision expected to deepen the authoritarian leader’s rift with Western governments.
Andrei Sannikov had been arrested following an anti-government demonstration after the polls closed on Dec. 19. Baton-wielding police broke up the largely peaceful gathering in central Minsk and detained about 700 people as the president was being declared the landslide winner over nine rivals.
Mr. Lukashenko was credited with 80% of the vote, to Mr. Sannikov’s 2.4%. International election observers said the vote count was seriously flawed.
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