The father of a dissident Belarusian novelist has been arrested in Minsk

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A prominent Belarusian dissident author who lives abroad says that his father has been arrested on unclear grounds after police broke into his parents’ apartment. Sasha Filipenko said Thursday that the seven police officers were armed with automatic weapons and they also took electronics and data files from the Minsk apartment. His father was taken away for detention but no charges were immediately stated. The arrest appeared to be connected with the relentless crackdown on opposition by the government of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko for the past three years. The crackdown started in the wake of a wave of protests that arose in August 2020 following a disputed presidential election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner.