Repressions continue as Belarusian authorities declare everything 'extremist'
Almost everything can be called "extremist" in Belarus/collage by Ulad Rubanau, Euroradio.
Recognition of anything as "extremist" has been one of Belarus's most common methods of repression since 2020. All these cases are recorded by human rights activists of "Human Constanta." They told us about the recent trends.
"An effective tool of repression"
"The state authorities have always considered anti-extremist legislation, especially after 2020, as an effective tool of repression," legal analyst Tatsiana Zinyakova said at the presentation of another report. "The selection of the rhetoric that state agencies operate on shows that they perceive this legislation as something that helps "mute" some voices that say something wrong [to the authorities]. The authorities themselves call it bringing order to the information field, they call freedom of speech something that has been transformed into extremist activity. That is why this legislation has become so actively used lately".
Zinyakova clarified that in the Belarusian context, "the fight against extremism" is more than one "badly written law." There are several normative legal acts. In general, the state classifies "extremism" as 18 actions that may infringe on "independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty, the foundations of the constitutional system and public safety."
"Another important innovation of the Belarusian legislation is the term "extremist formation," which appeared after 2020. Unlike an "extremist organization," which must be recognized by a court, an "extremist formation" is something that allows a group of citizens to be recognized as "extremists" without a court decision. The decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the KGB is sufficient for this, and this makes the task very simple".
Human rights activist Nasta Loika noted that a relatively short time ago, a punishment was introduced not only for organizing and leading an extremist formation but also for participation in it. As examples, she cited the case of Volha Zalatar, "Pramen" and philosopher Uladzimir Matskevich.
In addition, the total number of "formations" has now noticeably increased. Thus, over the past three months, twenty new "extremist formations" have been recorded, and at the end of June, their total number reached sixty-nine.
"Over the year, there has been an even greater strengthening of anti-extremist legislation. We all know about the death penalty for attempted acts of terrorism. This was adopted against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. I think this has to do mainly with intimidation. We would like to point out that this can only be applied to people if this "attempt" has occurred since May 29, 2022. If earlier, the changes can't be applied," said Ms. Loika.
Among the curious things that human rights activists found was the initiation of cases for actions that took place on the territory of other states. There were many cases of "inciting hatred," and more people were added to the "lists of extremists." At the end of June, 426 people in Belarus were considered to be "involved in extremist activity."
Among the trends of the last three months are arrests for "rail attacks," and transfer of information about the movement of Russian equipment, and "hunting" for bloggers who condemned the war in Ukraine. The number of cases for "inciting hatred" also increased.
In addition, for the first time, articles for "financing of terrorist activities" were applied. Also, several journalists (Katsyaryna Andreyeva, Dzianis Ivashyn, Andrei Aliaksandrau, and Iryna Zlobina) are being tried for "high treason."
How to protect yourself?
When asked about how not to fall under the "extremist repressions," Nasta Loika recommended knowing better what they might persecute you for and being more concerned about your security -- including information security.
