John Oliver denudes Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko, proposes a way to 'annoy the s--t' out of him

Alexander Lukashenko, the "president and autocratic leader" of Belarus, "has had quite a year," John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight — his first show with a live audience since the pandemic started. "You might have noticed stories about Belarus popping up with increasing regularity, especially since last August, when they had a highly contested election which made international headlines."

Belarusians are "furious at Lukashenko for his handling of the coronavirus," including claiming COVID-19 was a psychosis that could be treated with vodka and saunas, but their grievances run much deeper, Oliver said. "He's described himself as 'the last and only dictator in Europe,'" which is "an amazing thing to say," like "bragging about being the last Radio Shack or the last person to make a movie with Harvey Weinstein." In May, Lukashenko personally ordered fighter jets to force down a commercial airliner so security agents could arrest a dissident journalist.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.