by the commentator on 14 September 2013 10:49

No, he doesn't look very nice does he? And he's not. Alexander Lukashenko, dictator of Belarus, has murdered, beaten, tortured and imprisoned his political opponents for years. But as the brave men and women at the exiled Belarusian opposition group Charter 97 are reporting, he's also barking mad.

Harvard University has awarded Lukashenko and his police force with the so called Ig Nobel Prize (explained below) which recognises and honours actions that “first make people laugh, and then make them think”.

The presenter of the award told a packed, and much amused, audience at Harvard on Thursday night: "The Ig Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public and to the Belarus State Police for arresting a one armed man for applauding."

The incidents referred to happened two years ago when oppositionists sought symbolically to express dissent in ways that were not technically illegal, such as clapping in public. The regime then quickly moved against anything it took to be subversive. This also included arresting students for congregating in groups while eating ice cream.

In July 2011, a Belarusian court found the one armed man guilty of applauding in a public place in the capital city of Minsk and fined him.

The Ig Nobel Prizes are parodies of the originals, with Ig standing for "ignoble". Winners are traditionally invited to give a public lecture on the subject of their prize at MIT. Mr. Lukashenko will not be attending since he is banned from entering the United States.