Minsk, Belarus
Suicide attempt in court: A Belarusian activist tried to kill himself in a Minsk courtroom this week to protest the repressive regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. Stsiapan Latypau, 41, shouted that he had been told his family would be persecuted and arrested if he did not plead guilty to various charges—including fraud and organizing riots—and then stabbed a pen into his throat. He was unconscious by the time guards opened the defendant’s cage; he is now reportedly in stable condition after undergoing surgery. Latypau was one of thousands of activists arrested last summer during massive protests against
Lukashenko’s rigged re-election.