HRF Counter-Repression Toolkit, Russia Bars Yabloko Party, Belarus Marks Stolen Election

On August 10, Russia’s Supreme Court barred the country’s sole anti-war liberal party from the competition following a lawsuit filed by the pro-regime Rodina party. A series of charges have been leveled against Yabloko, including the accusation of receiving foreign funding and engaging in “activities against the integrity of Russia” due to its calls to end the war.

Founded in 1993, Yabloko is Russia’s oldest liberal party and has participated in every legislative election in the country’s independent history. Many of its members have faced repression under the Putin regime: party leader Nikolai Rybakov is accused of displaying “extremist symbols,” Lev Shlosberg is currently in pre-trial detention on charges of spreading “fakes” about the Russian army, and Maxim Kruglov has been sentenced to seven years in prison for the same “crime.”

HRF classifies Russia as a fully authoritarian regime in its new Tyranny Track index. Under Putin’s rule, there are no free and fair elections in the country, and mainstream opposition parties are routinely barred and intimidated. This move once again proves the accuracy of this classification. You can read more about Russia in our report here.

Aug. 10 marked six years since presidential elections in Belarus. The regime brazenly stole the victory from opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. HRF condemns the stolen elections and subsequent wave of terror unleashed by the regime on the Belarusian people.

Since 2020, the Lukashenko regime has arrested and imprisoned thousands of its own people. Human rights activists have documented countless examples of torture and abuse in Belarusian prisons. The Human Rights Center Viasna documented more than 100,000 acts of repression in the past six years.

Lukashenko continues to illegally hold onto power. His transnational repression machinery has only expanded in the last several years. The regime is also complicit in aggression towards Ukraine, along with abduction of Ukrainian children, in violation of international law.

HRF stands with the Belarusians who want to live in a free country without fear of repression. It also calls on the regime to release, unconditionally, all the remaining political prisoners and cease its campaign of terror against its people.