The event was deemed a success, passing by with little mishap.

Twelve months later and Belarus is experiencing another significant summer. Protesters have flooded the streets of Minsk and other cities since August 9, demonstrating against the results of the recent Presidential election. Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, was re-elected with 80.23 per cent majority. Reports of vote rigging surrounded the election, with matters escalating as police allegedly used brutality and torture against protesters.

In essence, the Belarusian regime, deemed to be the "last dictatorship in Europe", is displaying the disregard for human rights which concerned so many when the country was awarded the 2019 European Games. It was thought the event would be merely a sportswashing exercise for Belarus and Lukashenko, and the European Olympic Committee was criticised for handing the hosting rights to a second dubious regime, the first being Azerbaijan in 2015.

There was the counter argument that hosting the European Games would open Belarus up as a country. Indeed, by signing the host city contract, Belarusian authorities promised not to harass anyone for sexual, religious or political reasons during the Games, and to secure rights for construction workers at sporting venues. 

For the hundreds of journalists flooding the country to report on the event, myself included, a media hotline was provided in case of incident or complaint.

This was all with the Games in mind, however, and it is obvious that once the circus left town, things went back to how they had been. The way the Belarusian regime has dealt with the protests shows that. Amnesty International have been collecting testimonies from protesters in the country and have found what it claims to be a "campaign of widespread torture of peaceful protesters."

"Former detainees told us that detention centres have become torture chambers, where protesters are forced to lie in the dirt while police kick and beat them with truncheons," said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

"They described being stripped naked and subjected to sadistic beatings while listening to the screams of other victims. These are people whose only ‘crime’ was to take to the streets in peaceful protest. What we are seeing in Belarus is a human rights catastrophe that demands urgent action." 

Of course, the narrative surrounding the European Games in Minsk could completely change depending on the outcome of the protests. Commentators have appeared optimistic that Lukashenko’s days are numbered, with the veteran politician now losing support from several key quarters. 

If the protests do indeed result in the overthrow of Lukashenko, the European Games may be credited with playing a part in that. Sport diplomacy is taken seriously. Only recently, the International Judo Federation claimed to play a role in helping Israel establish diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia, however, and its fate is likely to be in the hands of its powerful neighbour and President Vladimir Putin. In addition, Lukashenko now seems to be hunkering down and has claimed he would rather be killed than resign or hold another election. 

Subsequently, there is no guarantee that the protests will result in a democratic and free Belarus. Even if it does, the reasons for uprising are obviously too complex to attribute solely to the European Games. The event may have had some sort of contribution, but not enough of one to justify awarding Belarus the hosting rights. 

Another interesting aspect of the protests in Belarus is the involvement of the sporting world. More than 100 sport stars from the country, including Olympic medallists, signed an open letter calling for the Presidential election results to be invalidated and another vote to be held. They also urged the Government to release detained protesters.

These athletes, who include some of Belarus’s medal hopes for next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, have also threatened to refuse to represent the national team if their demands are not met. The importance of sporting success to Belarus was shown during the European Games last year, and so the influence of such athletes cannot be underestimated.

Significantly, the situation is not just one which concerns Belarusian athletes and sporting organisations. Lukashenko is also head of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus, and so is part of the wider sporting community.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has made it clear he does not believe sport and politics should interact, and his organisation is not a stranger to awarding events to countries with a questionable human rights record. The growing furore around Beijing’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games is testament to that.

It is harder for Bach to turn a blind eye to events in Belarus, however, with the subject of the protests a figure in the Olympic Movement. For once, it is undeniably in the IOC’s realm. There is plenty of rationale for an IOC Ethics Commission investigation into Lukashenko and his role at the helm of Belarus’s National Olympic Committee.  

Whether this happens remains to be seen. What is clear is the inextricable links between the current crisis in Belarus and the sporting world.