According to the “List of Belarusian citizens, foreign citizens or stateless persons involved in extremist activities”, which is published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, it contains the names of almost four and a half thousand people.
According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, the list includes both Belarusians and citizens of other states convicted of “extremist crimes” after the presidential elections in 2020.
These are people who have been convicted in criminal cases. Those convicted of administrative offences are not included in this list. The increase in the number of people being persecuted in Belarus is a reality.
“The persecution is unlikely to end, especially since there will be elections in Belarus soon. Now the repression is only intensifying. Perhaps these repressions will continue after the elections. This is a fight against dissidents,” says human rights activist Yana Galagan.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus includes in the “List of extremists” those who are currently serving time in places of captivity, those who have already been released, and those who have even had their criminal record expunged.