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Assassination to intimidation: regimes target dissidents across national borders

Assassination, assault, unlawful deportations, spyware and family intimidation are some methods authoritarian regimes use against activists and dissidents.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya speaks to European lawmakers
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, left, speaks to European lawmakers about the Belarusian regime's crackdown on dissenting voices (AN/European Parliament)

WASHINGTON (AN) — Assassination, assault, unlawful deportations, spyware, family intimidation: These are but a sampling of the methods employed by authoritarian regimes — such as China and Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia — as they track down and silence social activists and political dissidents beyond their national borders.

Transnational repression is spreading as authoritarian regimes act in harmony to threaten, detain, and repatriate exiles, according to a new report by Washington-based Freedom House.

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