In Belarus, hundreds of opposition activists and journalists are being rounded up and jailed ahead of next month’s elections

BBC journalists watched as police grabbed peaceful protesters off the streets of Minsk and drove them away

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http://bbc.in/2CAM4Kc 

President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus for 26 years and is seeking his sixth term in power

But opposition to the authoritarian leader is growing
http://bbc.in/2CAM4Kc 

Volha Mikalaichyk is a well-known activist

Here she is being taken away by the KGB last month - she spent 30 days in prison
http://bbc.in/2CAM4Kc 

People are angry with President Lukashenko’s response to the pandemic

He dismissed the virus as a psychosis and has refused to lock down Belarus

Igor is an anaesthetist at one of the country’s major hospitals
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Ahead of the election the main opposition candidates have been jailed and disqualified - one of them is the video blogger Sergei Tikhonovsky

His wife Svetlana has decided to run for president in his place
http://bbc.in/2CAM4Kc 

The government has defended the authorities’ response to the protests

http://bbc.in/2CAM4Kc 

People in Belarus have told the BBC this is the most brutal crackdown on their rights they have ever experienced

While we were filming the protests our camera operator was arrested and detained
http://bbc.in/2CAM4Kc 

Watch the full film from Europe correspondent @jeanmackenzie who secured rare access inside the country often called Europe’s “last dictatorship” http://bbc.in/2CAM4Kc