{"id":4391,"date":"2022-01-18T13:54:36","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T10:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humanconstanta.org\/?p=4391"},"modified":"2022-01-18T13:54:38","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T10:54:38","slug":"overview-of-the-fight-against-extremism-in-belarus-in-october-december-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humanconstanta.org\/en\/overview-of-the-fight-against-extremism-in-belarus-in-october-december-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Overview of the fight against \u00abextremism\u00bb in Belarus in October-December 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In the period of October-December 2021, new trends in the field of \u00abextremism\u00bb emerged:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— After the adoption of the relevant resolution of the Council of Ministers<\/a>, 27 groups were recognized as \u00abextremist formations\u00bb, including 3 independent Belarusian media. The term \u00abextremist formation\u00bb is arbitrarily defined in Belarusian laws and is used to persecute dissidents. There are the first detainees on charges of participating in an \u00abextremist formation\u00bb. In addition, cases are recorded when additional charges of participating in \u00abextremist formations\u00bb are brought even when such formations are recognized as extremist already at the time of the prisoners’ detention, although such laws should not be retroactive;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 In October 2021, a conference was held in Nuremberg, Germany, where many used the term \u00abterrorist\u00bb<\/a> in relation to the de facto<\/em> president of Belarus. In our opinion, the term \u00abterrorist\u00bb as well as \u00abextremist\u00bb are not clearly defined in international law, and therefore should not be misinterpreted, while other ways todescribe the situation might be applicable;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— The narrative that any dissent can be regarded as \u00abextremism\u00bb and \u00abterrorism\u00bb continued to spread in the official media, for example, the opinion<\/a> of a pro-government philosopher stated: \u00ab… everyone should think before publishing certain ideas that run counter to the ideology of the Belarusian state now<\/em>\u00bb.<\/em> This approach effectively undermines the right to freedom of expression;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— The topic of \u00abextremism\u00bb has become very popular in the statements by pro-government political scientists<\/a> (who mistakenly refer to similar norms in European countries where the term \u00abextremism\u00bb is not defined in the legislation), political observers<\/a>, deputies<\/a>, prosecutors<\/a>;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 At the same time, news came from Germany that a group of neo-nazis was going to go to the border of Poland with Belarus in order to \u00abprevent illegal migration\u00bb. In the news<\/a> they are called \u00abright-wing extremists\u00bb, which is a non-legal term \u2013 there is no such concept in German legislation. At the same time, the term \u00abextremism\u00bb is often applied specifically to neo-nazi groups, while  in Belarus it is often used to target political dissenters;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— From the end of the year, criminal liability for calls for sanctions (up to 6 years in prison) comes into force<\/a>. Additionally, Belarusian authorities have made threats<\/a> to expand the subjects for the loss of citizenship on the grounds of committing \u00abextremism\u00bb \u2013 including when acquiring it by birth \u2013 all this we regard as a continuation of the escalation of the situation on the part of state bodies;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Prison terms from 11 to 18 years were imposed upon well-known bloggers and activists (read more in the overview);<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The largest sentences for political prisoners \u2013 up to 20 years in prison in the case of the \u00abPolesie partisans\u00bb<\/a> under several Criminal Codearticles, including\u00aban act of terrorism\u00bb for protests near government buildings;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 More than 200 people were detained for statements in support of the murdered Andrei Zeltser \u2013 human rights organizations have adopted a corresponding statement<\/a> about the inpermissibility of such persecution;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Lists of extremist materials were extended \u2013 mainly by adding Telegram resources, including channels of human rights organizations and independent media;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— A record number of trials were held on recognizing products as \u00abextremist materials\u00bb, as a result of which the list of extremist materials was supplemented by human rights information resources, independent media, and three printed publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in the review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legislative c<\/strong>hanges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On October 12, 2021, the Council of Ministers adopted Resolution \u2116 575<\/a> \u00abOn measures to counter extremism and prevent rehabilitation of nazism\u00bb (hereinafter \u2013 the Resolution), regulating the procedure for implementing the provisions of a number of May amendments to the Law \u00abOn countering extremism\u00bb (hereinafter \u2013 the Law). The document regulates the procedural aspects of the implementation of the norms enshrined in the Law: forms for maintaining a list of people, individual entrepreneurs, formations, and organizations involved in \u00abextremist activities\u00bb (within the mandate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs). Immediately after its adoption, the first \u00abextremist formations\u00bb were identified by the authorities. In addition, the resolution renamed the name of the Commission that decides on the presence or absence of signs of extremism in information products (the words \u00abon the evaluation of symbols and attributes\u00bb were added), a new composition of the Republican Commission was approved (it now consists of parliamentarians and representatives of state bodies). The resolution also obliges the subjects of countering extremism and preventing the rehabilitation of nazism to send information about their \u00abanti-extremist activities\u00bb to the Ministry of Internal Affairs at least once every six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 31, 2021, amendments to the Criminal Code<\/a> came into force \u2013 in particular, to Article 361, which criminalizes calls for sanctions (in the new edition \u00abCalls for restrictive measures (sanctions), other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus\u00bb). The maximum sentence was also increased from 7 to 12 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminal cases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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In December 2021, it was reported<\/a> that only in Minsk, since July 2020, \u00abinvestigators have sent to court 454 criminal cases against more than 531 accused on 772 episodes of criminal activity related to extremism. Investigators are currently working on about 250 criminal cases. After the amendment of the Law \u00abOn countering extremism\u00bb since the beginning of summer 2021, the list of actions that are now considered \u00abextremism\u00bb has expanded even more. This legislative approach is an abuse of the term \u00abextremism\u00bb for political purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our reviews, we do not consider cases under Articles 342 (\u00abOrganization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them\u00bb) and 293 (\u00abMass riots\u00bb) of the Criminal Code, as well as all examples of the use of defamatory articles<\/a> (insults of officials, etc.), since all these cases are politically motivated and do not require additional evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this regard, we draw attention to more specific articles related to national security, extremist groups, incitement of hostility, acts of terrorism, as well as examples of their use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the moment, we receive basic information about such cases from the websites and Telegram channels of government agencies. Posts on such topics clearly violate the presumption of innocence \u2013 all publications report that people have committed crimes, despite the fact that many cases have not even held court hearings. Often, under threats of torture and pressure, people are forced to give \u00abconfessions\u00bb on camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important feature of this period was the appearance of the first cases for \u00abparticipation in extremist formations\u00bb (Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code) and the manifestation of greater attention to \u00abharm to national security\u00bb (Article 361 of the Criminal Code), as well as more severe sentences \u2013 up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, we see different approaches to \u00abextremist organizations\u00bb in our region \u2013 in October 2021, the Prosecutor General’s Office refused<\/a> to extradite a representative of Jehovah’s Witnesses to Russia, who is accused of extremism in his homeland — this is the second similar case in recent times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 130 of the Criminal Code<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abIncitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article continues to be mainly used to suppress freedom of expression on social networks against people who leave publications or comments with harsh rhetoric against law enforcement officers or other officials, in violation of international human rights standards. We are aware of hundreds of detainees and six sentences under this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 23, 2021, the head of the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (hereinafter \u2013 GUBOPiK) stated<\/a> that they had calculated more than 300 commentators on the incident with the death of military pilots on May 19, 2021<\/a>, as well as the murder of an employee of the State Security Committee (hereinafter \u2013 the KGB) (the \u00abZeltser case\u00bb). Specifically on the \u00abZeltser case\u00bb, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported<\/a> that 200 people had been identified who had left negative comments about the deceased KGB officer, and human rights activists were aware<\/a> of 119 detainees in this case. Detainees in these cases are held under Articles 130 and 369 of the Criminal Code (\u00abInsulting a representative of the authorities\u00bb). The main wave of detentions occurred at the end of September 2021, but continued throughout October 2021. On October 4, 2021, an employee of the Belarusian IT company EPAM and his father were detained<\/a> for comments about this incident. It is known about specially created inhuman conditions of detention<\/a> for the accused in this case, which can be qualified as \u00abtorture\u00bb<\/a> (inability to deliver food packages, receive letters, conduct meetings with lawyers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another event, followed by a wave of detentions by GUBOPiK, was the death of two Russian paratroopers<\/a> during military exercises in Grodno: on December 1, 2021, 11 people were detained <\/a>for \u00abcynical comments\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two residents of Vitebsk<\/a> were detained for comments against law enforcement officers (information about the second one<\/a>), a resident of the Nesvizh district<\/a>, who were initially detained for possession ofdrugs, and during further investigative actions it turned out that they could also leave harsh posts and comments in Telegram. Under Article 130 of the Criminal Code, a resident of Borisov was also detained<\/a>, who, according to GUBOPiK, \u00abcollected nazi and extremist materials on his VK page, called everyone to the streets\u00bb, although punishment for such actions is provided only by administrative law. Mogilev actor and director Vyacheslav Sikora was also put on the international wanted list <\/a>on charges of inciting hostility and insults for publishing videos criticizing the regime, a criminal case was opened against a resident of Kiev of belarusian origin<\/a>, activist Pavel Vinogradov was charged<\/a> for a harsh post on Facebook, and an activist from Dubrovno escaped from \u00abchemistry\u00bb after finding out about a new criminal case<\/a> under Article 130 of the Criminal Code against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trend of applying this article continued in relation to employees of telecom operators<\/a> and banks who transferred personal data of security forces to opposition resources. For these actions, cases are initiated either under Article 130 of the Criminal Code or under Article 203-1 of the Criminal Code<\/a> (\u00abIllegal actions with respect to information about private life and personal data\u00bb), and sometimes they are accused of threatening violence. Also, the head of GUBOPiK mentioned the initiation of a criminal case<\/a> for the transfer of personal data of an employee of his unit under Article 365 of the Criminal Code (\u00abInterference in the activities of an employee of the internal affairs bodies\u00bb), despite the fact that the composition of the \u00abcrime\u00bb in comparison with previous examples is almost identical, which indicates the absence of any systematic work of law enforcement officers in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journalistic activity of independent media is also considered to be \u00abincitement of hostility\u00bb. Thus, on October 6, 2021, there information surfaced that the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case<\/a> under this article against officials and employees of \u00abTUT BUY MEDIA\u00bb and certain \u00abother persons\u00bb. Also, an investigation is being carried out \u00abfor inciting social hostility\u00bb<\/a> against the detained freelancer Andrei Kuznechik, who collaborated with \u00abRadio Svaboda\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often, investigators additionally began to use Article 130 of the Criminal Code in connection with more specific charges under the articles, for example, about mass riots, actions that grossly violate public order and calls for harm to national security in order to strengthen responsibility. Such trends can be noticed by analyzing the charges in the cases of activist Eduard Palchis<\/a>, philosopher Vladimir Matskevich<\/a>, as well as a resident of Minsk<\/a> (in the case of \u00abCivil Self-Defense Unit\u00bb, hereinafter \u2013 CSDU) and a resident of Grodno<\/a>, who were charged with inciting hostility in addition to \u00abcalls to harm national security\u00bb (Article 361 of the Criminal Code). Human rights activist Marfa Rabkova is being tried<\/a> along with 14 members of an anarchist organization \u00abRevolutionary Action\u00bb and was charged<\/a> under 11 articles of the Criminal Code at once, including for inciting hostility, calls to harm national security and the creation of an extremist formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 8, 2021, it became known<\/a> that Sofia Sapieha was also finally charged under Article 130 of the Criminal Code. Sofia is on the same case with former employees of Beltelecom, who leaked the data of law enforcement officers to the \u00abBlack Book of Belarus\u00bb group, the administration of which is probably imputed to Sofia. Also, the final charge was brought under Article 130 of the Criminal Code to the artist Ales Pushkin<\/a> for \u00abrehabilitation of nazism\u00bb and Eduard Babariko<\/a> for unknown acts after more than 18 months of his stay in a pre\u2013trial detention center (hereinafter \u2013 SIZO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 7, 2021, the Mogilev Regional Court sentenced a resident of Osipovichi <\/a>to five years in a strict regime colony for comments in opposition Telegram chats and a message threatening the commander of special forces. Among the comments that the man left are \u00abShame on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Army\u00bb, \u00abBad stuff\u00bb, \u00abBullshit <obscene language>, soon I’ll hang you on every twig, you don’t have much time left, the time will come. Read the oath, fascists\u00bb, \u00abeverything is at the limit\u00bb, \u00ab90% must be executed\u00bb. On November 9, 2021, the same court punished a resident of Petrikov <\/a>with three years in a general security prison for posting emotional stories on Instagram, which contained such statements as \u00absmash riot police for our sisters\u00bb and \u00abdrown in blood\u00bb. The man claimed that such emotions were caused by the news about violence on the part of law enforcement officers and added that he was intoxicated, and sobered up \u2013 immediately deleted these publications, which, however, did not save him from punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 5, 2021, the court of the Central District of Minsk sentenced<\/a> a programmer to three years of restriction of freedom (\u00abchemistry\u00bb) for the fact that a man \u00abfor the purpose of expressing political views and inciting hostility in society\u00bb took part in protests on August 10, 2020. It is important to note that despite the accusations of inciting hostility, the man was convicted only under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (\u00abActions grossly violating public order\u00bb).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 8, 2021, the Grodno Regional Court sentenced<\/a> a local resident to 3.5 years in a maximum security colony for comments in a city chat, despite the fact that experts concluded that there were negative assessments in the defendant’s opinion, but there were no grounds to claim that he threatened police officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 14, 2021, the Gomel Regional Court sentenced<\/a> the founder of the \u00abStrana dlya zhizni\u00bb (\u00abCountry for living\u00bb) movement and politician Sergei Tsikhanovsky to 18 years in maximum security prison. Nikolai Statkevich was sentenced to 14 years, Igor Losik (administrator of the Telegram channel \u00abBelarus golovnogo mozga\u00bb (\u00abBelarus of the brain\u00bb) and Vladimir Tsyganovich (\u00abMozgOn\u00bb channel) were sentenced  to 15 years, Artem Sakov (administrator of the channel \u00abStrana dlya zhizni\u00bb (\u00abCountry for living\u00bb) and Dmitry Popov (moderator of the social networks \u00abStrana dlya zhizni\u00bb (\u00abCountry for living\u00bb) were sentenced to  16 years. On December 17, 2021, the Minsk City Court already passed sentence<\/a> against blogger Eduard Palchis \u2013 he will face 13 years in a maximum security prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 27, 2021, the Minsk City Court passed sentence<\/a> against a Russian resident Egor Dudnikov for voicing videos and audio messages in the Telegram channel \u00abCSDU\u00bb, in which he incited social hostility and discord on the basis of professional affiliation, as well as incited violence and resistance. According to the totality of Articles 130 and 361 of the Criminal Code, he was sentenced to 11 years in a maximum security prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 289 of the Criminal Code<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abAct of terrorism<\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the period of October-December 2021 we learned about 2 sentences and 4 new cases under Article 289 of the Criminal Code. After the resonant events on September 28, 2021, when the employees of the State Security Committee (hereinafter \u2013 the KGB) carried out \u00abspecial operations and inspection in the homes of people suspected of committing acts of terrorism\u00bb, and in the course of one of such operations, Andrei Zeltser and employee of the KGB of Belarus Dmitry Fedosyuk were killed. In connection with this event, the state bodies kept following the narrative about the process of \u00abneutralizing movements that openly propagandize the ideas of extremism and terrorism\u00bb»neutralizing movements that openly propagandize the ideas of extremism and terrorism.»<\/a> However, the period October-December 2021,  was not marked by a large number of known arrests on cases of an \u00abact of terrorism\u00bb. At the same time, during this period, the first trials under this article had begun, which brought unprecedented terms for imprisonment in \u00abextremist cases\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 22, 2021, the Minsk Regional Court, under articles on «the act of terrorism» and illegal trafficking in weapons, passed a sentence<\/a> upon anarchists Dmitry Dubovsky, Igor Olinevich, Sergei Romanov and Dmitry Rezanovich (the so-called \u00abOlinevich group\u00bb): Olinevich was sentenced to 20 years in a colony with a reinforced regime, Rezanovich and Dubovsky to 19 and 18 years accordingly with the same punishment, and Romanov to 20 years in a maximum security colony. The hearing was held behind closed doors. The anarchists were charged with setting fire to cars and buildings, which were the property of law enforcement representatives, as well as with transporting weapons across the border. The case does not include any victims, only property that had been damaged. Human rights organizations recognized<\/a> them as political prisoners and demanded to reconsider the case. Besides that, during this period some of the defendants from \u00abthe Autukhovich group\u00bb were recognized<\/a> as political prisoners as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 26, 2021, the Mogilev Regional Court behind closed doors began the hearing on the case<\/a> under Article 289 of the Criminal Code against a local resident of Mogilev who would be charged with throwing a Molotov cocktail at the front door of the Mogilev Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Initially, the case was initiated under \u00abespecially malicious hooliganism\u00bb, \u00abdeliberate destruction of the property in a generally dangerous way\u00bb and \u00abillegal actions in relation to objects, the damaging effect of which is based on the use of combustible means\u00bb articles of the Criminal Code, but later this act was re-classified into a much stricter Article 289 of the Criminal Code. Moreover, during the actual court session, it turned out that he was also charged with \u00absocial enmity\u00bb. At the beginning of December 2021, the court ordered<\/a> compulsory security measures and treatment in a psychiatric hospital with enhanced supervision (such a punishment is imposed without agreed time frames).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This period was marked by five arrests in the framework of cases on \u00abthe acts of terrorism\u00bb (A. Lukashenko publicly announced<\/a> the arrest of seven people who tried to commit terrorist acts). On October 8, 2021, a former inspector of the special training department of the Minsk Special Purpose Police Unit (hereinafter -\u2013 OMON) was detained<\/a> for unknown acts while on duty. On November 9, 2021, the pro-government Telegram channel \u00abMain Department for Combating Organized Crime\u00bb (hereinafter \u2013 GUBOP) announced<\/a> the arrest of three residents of Bobruisk, who are accused of arson and laying fake explosive devices at public transport stops and railway tracks. On December 9, 2021, on the \u00abGUBOP\u00bb Telegram channel, there appeared the information<\/a> about the arrest of one of the developers of the \u00abBlack map\u00bb (a tool to spread personal data of defense and law enforcement employees): it was stated that \u201che will be subject to Articles of the Criminal Code on terrorism, participation and financing\u201d. On December 11, 2021, a man was arrested<\/a>, who was named the \u00abchief visual editor\u00bb of the videos of the \u00abSupratsiu\u00bb movement (recognized as a terrorist organization) for \u00abparticipation in a terrorist organization\u00bb. The pro-government Telegram channels say that he was only responsible for \u00aball the visuals\u00bb, \u00abthe very idea, concept, he thought over logos and symbols, developed theory, strategy and tactics\u00bb and \u00abpersonally voiced almost all the terrorist videos\u00bb. On December 23, 2021, there appeared the information<\/a> that KGB officers arrested a Russian citizen who damaged 33 trolleybuses in Gomel for \u00abthe act of terrorism\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 359 of the Criminal Code<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abAn act of terrorism against a statesman or public figure\u00bb<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 23, 2021, it became known<\/a> about the arrest of six people who were members of the \u201cSupratsiu\u201d organization and damaged the car of a judge, a pro-government journalist and an employee of the prosecutor’s office. In the framework of this case, people are subject to the Article 290-4 of the Criminal Code (creation of an organization for carrying out terrorist activities or participation in it), which is used only for the second time during the period of our observations (for the first time we found it in the Ministry of Internal Affairs statistics report for the year 2020<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 361 of the Criminal Code<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abCalls for actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus\u00bb<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is still used to punish both well-known public figures and the most ordinary Internet users: any opposition calls, which sometimes do not even contain any radical narrative, can be interpreted by the law enforcement representatives as an incitement to harm national security. All cases under this Article are most often initiated for systematic and public criticism of the authorities or for simultaneous posting of the large number of negative comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the period October-December 2021, we know of three trials and two new cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 10, 2021, the Minsk City Court announced the verdict against the well-known Belarusian anarchist and blogger Nikolai Dedok — he was found guilty<\/a> of calling for actions against national security (part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code), participation in the actions that grossly violate public order (part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code) and illegal actions in relation to flammable substances (part 1 of Article 295-3) and sentenced him to 5 years in a general regime colony. Specifically, Article 361 was charged to Nikolai for administering the «radical Telegram channel», in which he «by influencing the consciousness of people via the Internet» spread materials «aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country, artificial aggravation of the tension and confrontation in society, and spreading the ideology of extremism.»<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 15, 2021, the same court sentenced Vladislav Martinovich to 4 years in prison<\/a> for administering the Telegram channel «White robes», even though Vladislav himself claimed that he did not know who was administering this channel, and after monitoring his computer, the police admitted that «they got confused and detained the wrong person.» The investigation office claimed that the channel was spreading the ideology of extremism, aggravated the tension in the society, and the channel itself was created with the aim of «influencing the consciousness and will of healthcare workers in the Republic of Belarus, as well as students and teachers of medical educational institutions of the country.»<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminal cases under this Article for the administration of Telegram channels are initiated mainly against the owners of relatively large or well-known Telegram chats (for example, blogger Anton Motolko), and the administrators of smaller channels are usually prosecuted under Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 19, 2021, it became known that Natalya Belobekhova, who was charged under Article 356 (\u201cTreason against the State\u201d) in the case of the \u201cRabochy Rukh\u201d (\u201cThe Working Movement\u201d) labor union, which was recognized as an extremist group, was also charged<\/a> under part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 1, 2021, at the request of the Belarusian police, Russian law enforcement representatives detained <\/a>a resident of St. Petersburg with Belarusian origin: she is accused of libel, illegal actions with personal data, incitement of hostility, creating an extremist group and calling for actions against national security. According to the Investigative Committee<\/a>, she is involved in the administration of three Telegram channels. At the moment, the Belarusian authorities have sent a request for the extradition<\/a> of the girl, and she herself is in custody in a pre-trial detention center and has applied for refugee status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abCreation of an extremist group or participation in it\u00bb<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is still used primarily against various opposition initiatives in Telegram, as well as their participants and administrators. Necessary to admit that almost all Telegram channels and chats are recognized as \u00abextremist groups\u00bb much later than the detention of their alleged administrators exactly for \u00abcreating an extremist group\u00bb. Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code is often used by law enforcement along with Article 342 of the Criminal Code (group actions that grossly violate public order). There is an example<\/a> of the initiation of a case against the editorial board of the major mass media. During this period, we know about 2 sentences and 6 new cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 3, 2021, the Minsk City Court issued a verdict<\/a> against the activist Olga Zolotar. She was found guilty under three Articles of the Criminal Code: part 1 of Article 361-1 (creation of an extremist group), parts 1 and 2 of Article 342 (organization of actions that grossly violate public order), part 1 of Article 16 and part 1 of Article 342 (aiding in the organization of actions, grossly violating public order). The woman was detained for \u00abactive protest activities\u00bb, she was charged with administering a local opposition chat (\u00abZhdanovichi 2020 — Tsoi lovers’ club\u00bb, which was recognized as an extremist group only on October 22, 2021) and organizing various \u00abneighbour\u00bb events (tea drinking, walks, concerts). On December 25, 2021, it became known that, under this Article, another participant in the neighbours chat, a resident of the Kaskad residential complex, was detained<\/a> for setting fire to tires in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 29, 2021, the trial began against a student and citizen of the Russian Federation Artyom Boyarsky, who was charged with the same charges<\/a> for allegedly administering one of the largest opposition channels, \u00abMAYA KRAYINA BELARUS\u00bb (\u00abMy country Belarus\u00bb). According to the Investigation office<\/a>, Artyom, \u00abadministering the extremist group, formed its membership, distributed roles, monitored the content of the resource and organized the participation of its members in protest activities\u00bb. The judge granted the prosecutor’s motion to hold the session behind closed doors<\/a> due to the fact that \u00abthe case file contains information about the intimate side of the accused\u2019s life, as well as information from the Telegram channel, which is recognized as extremist\u00bb, although the consideration of \u00abextremist information\u00bb in the case is clearly not one of the cases stipulated in Article 23 of the Criminal Code according to which a court sitting can be held behind closed doors. On December 9, 2021, the court sentenced<\/a> Artyom to five years of imprisonment in a colony with a reinforced regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this period, it became known about the detention of the alleged administrators of the \u00abOshmyany\u00bb<\/a> Telegram channel, the \u00abPetrikov-97%\u00bb<\/a> Telegram channel and one of the Polotsk chats.<\/a> All these people are also accused of the creation of an extremist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 10, 2021, the Investigative Committee announced<\/a> that people who registered and are members of the \u00abPeramoga Plan\u00bb (\u00abThe Victory Plan\u00bb) initiative (a mobilization initiative of the protesters offering each belarusian a specific set of actions) after November 8, 2021(the date the initiative was recognized as an extremist group) will be punished as members of an extremist group, including those who left their personal data in the chatbot of the initiative \u00abto carry out extremist acts on the territory of Belarus at the direction of foreign headquarters\u00bb. Also, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case<\/a> under parts 1 and 2 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code against the participants of the initiative of the former law enforcement representatives \u00abBYPOL\u00bb for the direct creation and administration of the «Peramoga Plan». Earlier, the \u00abGUBOP\u00bb Telegram channel had already repeatedly reported on the arrests of the participants of this initiative, but the type of the charges was not mentioned in the channel’s publications. On November 15, 2021, it became known about the first arrest for participation in the «Peramoga Plan»<\/a> in the framework of the criminal case \u2013 a resident of Brest was detained, who mentioned his participation in social networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repressions under this Article are carried out not only against Telegram resources recognized as extremist groups, along with their administrators and participants, but also against the mass media. On November 18, 2021, it became known that the director of the \u00abBelaPAN\u00bb  news agency Irina Levshina and its former head Dmitry Novozhilov, who had been detained since August 2021 under Articles for gross violation of the public order and tax evasion, were also charged with<\/a> the creation of an extremist group. It is necessary to admit that charges for \u00abextremist groups\u00bb are pressed in the vast majority of cases against people who were members of various organizations of people even before the decision was made to recognize them as an extremist group by the KGB or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, although such decisions should not have retroactive effect in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abFinancing of the extremist activity\u00bb<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 19, 2021, it became known that the Sovetsky District Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Gomel is conducting an investigation against the volunteer Ilya Mironov<\/a> \u00abon the grounds of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code\u00bb. Despite the fact that Ilya’s lawyer does not even have the right to name the number of the Article under which he is accused, this information became available from the police department response to one of the activist’s letter, in which he asked to tell about the fate of his property confiscated during one of the searches. Ilya actively supported political prisoners (wrote over 2,500 letters showing his support and organized dozens of food and clothes deliveries to detention centers).  Earlier this year,in July, we described a similar case of \u00abStrana dlya zhizni\u00bb (\u00abCountry for living\u00bb) volunteers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abAiding extremist activity\u00bb<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This «extremist» article supplemented the Criminal Code with amendments introduced in May 2021. According to the information of the Investigative Committee<\/a> on October 6, 2021 for the comment \u00abOk, it’s time to take out the weapon. Long live Belarus!\u00bb under the video with the demonstration of the use of weapons, a resident of Novogrudok was detained. According to the investigation, this comment was left \u00abin support of extremist activities and the use of weapons\u00bb, which can be interpreted as aiding extremism. The sanction of this Article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 7 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Administrative cases<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Article 19.11 of the Administrative Code \u2013 40 court hearings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the period October-December 2021, we do not know about the cases related to the distribution of Nazi symbols, but Article 19.11 of the Administrative Code was actively used: \u00abDistribution, production, storage, transportation of information products containing calls for extremist actions or promoting such activities\u00bb. In total, at least 29 people were detained<\/strong> under this Article for reposting or forwarding publications from resources recognized as extremist, 28 people<\/strong> \u2013 for subscribing to these resources (in some cases<\/a>, the subscription was interpreted as \u201cstoring extremist materials\u201d), as well as 1 person was detained <\/strong>for sending information or offering news on Telegram channels recognized as extremist (\u00abproduction of extremist materials\u00bb). We also know about 40 trials under this Article<\/strong>, during which the accused, in the vast majority of cases, were sentenced to a maximum sentence of 15 days of administrative arrest. Most frequently people were punished for distributing materials from such resources as \u00abNEXT *\u00bb, \u00abT * T.BY\u00bb and \u00abBels * t\u00bb. In August and September 2021<\/a>, there were about 20 of such cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 5, 2021, the judge of the Frunzensky district, Yulia Bliznyuk, sentenced<\/a> Olga Kazadoi, an employee of the human resources department of Godel Technologies company, to 15 days of arrest. In the protocol of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was the only evidence in the court hearing, it was stated that the woman \u201ckept in her personal account the materials of the \u00abBasta\u00bb telegram channel, which was recognized as extremist\u201d — this is the first confirmed case of prosecution precisely for subscribing to the Telegram channel. It is also known about a fine for a subscription<\/a> to a female resident of Kalinkovichi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the «repentance videos» on the \u00abGUBOP\u00bb Telegram channel, people often say that they were subscribed to extremist channels on Telegram, but in practice they are often prosecuted within the framework of various articles of the Administrative Code<\/a>: Article 19.1. of the Administrative Code (\u00abpetty hooliganism\u00bb), Article 24.3. of the Administrative Code (\u00abdisobedience\u00bb), Article 24.23. of the Administrative Code (\u00abviolation of the procedure for organizing or holding mass events\u00bb).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All court verdicts in such cases are based only on the evidence from the prosecution side (police officers\u2019 records and testimonies of the witnesses, who are also the Ministry of Internal Affairs employees), and the process of hearing sometimes turns into a real \u00abconveyor belt\u00bb. Thus, for example, it took only 3 minutes for the judge<\/a> of the Novobelitsky district of Gomel, Aleksandr Zinchuk, to find a female resident of Gomel guilty of \u00abdistributing extremist materials\u00bb and sentence her to 15 days of arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of the married couple Anastasia Krupenich-Kondratyeva and Sergei Krupenich, who on November 5, 2021 were sentenced to administrative arrest<\/a> for the ninth time in a row by the Leninsky District Court of Minsk, caused a great resonance. Anastasia and Sergei spent a total of 112 days of arrest each<\/a> for numerous messages sent from Telegram channels recognized as extremist, necessary to admit that it happened only in their personal correspondence. Each repost was formally the basis for a new protocol under Article 19.11. of the Administrative Code, and the employees of the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK) informed Anastasia that the number of those reposts will be enough to continue her administrative prosecution until January 2021. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Tsarkva» (\u201cThe Church\u201d) also received 12 protocols at once<\/a> for the fact of each repost from the resource «Bels * t», which is recognized as extremist material. Journalist Sergei Nerovny was convicted of likes <\/a>under the publications of \u00abT * T.BY\u00bb and \u00abBels * t\u00bb and interpreted it as the \u00abdistribution of extremist materials\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendments to the Republican List of Extremist Materials<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In the period of October-December 2021, the courts proceeded with recognizing new materials as extremist. It took some time for them to be included in the Republican List of extremist materials<\/a> (hereinafter \u2013 the list) available on the website of the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus. The very existence of this list and prosecution for the use of listed materials is an unjustified restriction of freedom of expression, since the background, possible effect of expressing oneself in the respective manner and other important factors are disregarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over three months, 165 court decisions on the recognition of 227 materials as extremist were issued (compared to 84 decisions on 129 materials during August-September 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court of the Central District of Minsk issued 22 decisions which is the highest number (11 more than in the previous period). The second position was taken by the court of the Borisovsky district of the Minsk region which issued 15 decisions, although previously it issued only sporadic decisions. The third position by the number of decisions was shared by the court of the Railway district of the city of Gomel and the court of the Railway district of the city of Vitebsk (already got listed in the top three in the period June-July<\/a> 2021) \u2013 they issued 13 decisions each. The majority of the decisions were issued by the courts of Minsk (48 decisions), the courts of the Minsk region (41 decisions) and the courts of the Vitebsk region (33 decisions) occupied the second and third positions respectively. As before, the courts of the Mogilev region were the least active in banning information resources \u2013 in this region, only the Court of Leninsky district of Mogilev issued 2 decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, Telegram opposition channels and chats became the leading category of resources recognized as extremist\u2013 160 Telegram resources have been included into the list during this period, including 91 channels, 47 chats and 22 groups. A. Parshin \u2013 the head of  the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime And Corruption (hereinafter — GUBOPiK) \u2013 in an interview with the media source mlyn.wu<\/a> stated: \u00abthis year, as a result of \u00abour efforts,\u00bb 125 Telegram channels and chats were recognized as extremist\u00bb. Presumably, this statistics covers only the resources recognized as extremist by the claim of GUBOPiK specifically, since according to our data, within the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, 389 Telegram resources were listed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The channel \u00abGlubokoe dlia zhizni\u00bb (\u00abGlubokoe for Life\u00bb) was recognized as extremist twice within a week — on October 1, 2021, by the court of the Glubokoe district of the Vitebsk region and later, on October 6, 2021, by the court of the Zheleznodorozhny district of Vitebsk. Also, \u00abNovopolotsk microdistrict 6 chat\u00bb and \u00abNovopolotsk microdistrict 7 chat\u00bb were recognized as extremist by virtue of decisions of two courts twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition channels and chats of various scales proceeded to be listed as extremist: during this period, both some of the resources largest in terms of the number of participants were recognized as extremist (for example, the channels \u00abSvetlana Tikhanovskaya\u00bb with an audience of almost 100 thousand people; \u00abNick and Mike\u00bb having  60 thousand subscribers;  \u00abRealnaya Belarus\u00bb (\u00abReal Belarus\u00bb) having 50 thousand subscribers), and chats that are not popular at all (for example, the chat \u00abPerezhir97\u00bb having 30 subscribers), as well as channels staying inactive for more than a year. It is worth noting specifically the recognition of the extremist news channel of the Golos Platform (more than 80 thousand subscribers), while the popular bot of this platform, designed for monitoring the presidential elections in August 2020 and mobilizing protesters, has not yet been recognized as extremist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Telegram channel of independent political analyst Artsiom Shraibman was also recognized as extremist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the major channels for de-anonymization of the law enforcement officers are already listed as extremist, similar resources of a smaller scale continued to be included in the list. On October 6, 2021, a website collecting data on law enforcement officers, which has been blocked on the territory of the Republic of Belarus since 2017, was recognized as extremist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, the resources of human rights organizations were recognized as extremist \u2013 the website and social media accounts of the Garadzenskaya Viasna team, a regional unit of the Viasna Human Rights Center were listed, and on December 30, 2021, the Telegram channel of the organization was recognized as extremist (\u00abViasna \/ Human Rights in Belarus\u00bb). Similar to the period of August-September 2021, over three months, oppositional initiatives of workers of such enterprises as Belaruskali, BelAZ, Gomselmash, MTZ were recognized as extremist, the BOR | Belarusian Association of Workers channel and \u00abCommunity of Railway Workers\u00bb were also included in the list. Procedure for banning university chats proceeded \u2013 within the analyzed period, the chats of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics (BSUIR), Yanka Kupala Grodno State University (GrSU), Minsk State Linguistic University (MSLU) and the student movement of Gomel were recognized as extremist. Following the popular group \u00abChai z malinavym varennem\u00bb (\u00abTea with raspberry jam\u00bb), other channels with a humorous bias were banned, for example, \u00abElekhtarat\u00bb and \u00abFifth Column\u00bb. As usual, anarchist resources have also become the object of the fight against extremism, not only Belarusian ones (\u00abPramen\u00bb), but Ukrainian ones as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this period, active application of anti-extremist legislation continued to create obstacles to the activity of independent media. All social networks and the website of the media resource Belarusian Partisan, all social networks of the media resource Nasha Niva, the resources of the Euroradio media resource in Telegram and YouTube, as well as the resources of the regional media Ex-Press, Brest Newspaper, Borisov News and Vitebsk Vestnik were recognized as extremist materials. The analyzed period is marked by the fact of recognition of three printed media as \u00abextremist\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of all «extremist materials» of this period, a video entitled «Prayer for Belarus with Vyacheslav Bark 17.07.2021» from the channel \u00abReal Belarus!\u00bb stands out. The video is a recording of a live broadcast on which Belarusians hold a prayer in Warsaw together with Priest Vyacheslav Barok, who has previously been held accountable under \u00abextremist\u00bb article. The recognition of this video as extremist violates not only the right to freedom of expression, but also the right to freedom of religion enshrined in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 2 \u00abnon-political\u00bb decisions on recognizing materials as \u201cextremist\u201d were not polically driven \u2013 the first one covers the neo-Nazi community in VKontakte, its avatar and a number of posts in this group, and the second one recognizes the Nazi antiques and souvenirs store as extremist, whose media community description indicated that this historical store serves reenactors and collectors, its goods are not aimed at promoting political ideas and are sold in closed packaging without demonstration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendments to the List of Legal Entities, Formations, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Individuals Involved in Extremist Activities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Despite the fact that the concept of \u00abextremist formation\u00bb was included in the Law \u00abOn Countering Extremism\u00bb back in May 2021, the first group of people recognized as such was reported only on September 29, 2021 in the film by ONT channel<\/a> (where the strike movement «Rabochy Rukh» (\u00abWorking class movement\u00bb) was classified \u00abextremist\u00bb), and a list of such formations was made available on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs<\/a> on October 18, 2021. Such \u00abdelays\u00bb might have been caused by the fact that the detailed regulation of the procedure for listing persons on such ground and its maintenance was established by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 575, adopted on October 12, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of December 2021, the list of extremist groups included 27 positions — ranging from trade union movements and independent media to anarchist movements and local chats. Over three months, the list was replenished by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n