An Intensifying Spotlight on Belarus' Security Apparatus

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has used the country's security institutions to consolidate control of the political system. But the State Security Committee of Belarus, commonly known as the KGB, has come under intense scrutiny in recent months because Lukashenko has been using it to crack down on domestic dissent. Indeed, the KGB announced Nov. 13 that it had arrested opposition activist Andrej Hajdukou on charges of spying for a foreign intelligence agency. 

The arrest occurred just days after Lukashenko dismissed KGB chief Vadim Zaitsev on Nov. 9, officially to clear the way for a pending investigation into the mysterious death, apparently a suicide, of a high-ranking KGB official. With Belarus continuing to distance itself from the West, such moves involving the country's security institutions — even more than political opposition forces — could provide valuable insight on the stability of Lukashenko's regime.