Vladimir Matyushenko awoke each morning for the past three weeks hoping nothing terrible happened.
The people of Belarus have taken to the streets since Aug. 9 and participated in general strikes calling for the removal of the nation’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, following an election that was “not free or fair,” according to the American government and international observers. Lukashenko is the only president of the republic of Belarus since it gained independence from a dismantling Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The election was the sixth straight that Lukashenko stood victorious since 1994. Human rights groups consider Belarus an autocracy, and Lukashenko is labeled Europe’s last dictator.