I en erklæring offentliggjort onsdag sagde Minsks hoveddirektorat for bekæmpelse af organiseret kriminalitet, at de nye regler var blevet underskrevet. 'Den 12. oktober vedtog Ministerrådet en beslutning om foranstaltninger til bekæmpelse af ekstremisme og rehabiliteringsnazismen,' sagde embedsmænd.
'Som følge heraf har direktoratet påbegyndt arbejdet med at genkende uregistrerede grupper af borgere, der er involveret i ekstremistiske aktiviteter, herunder brug af online messenger -apps og sociale netværk,' lyder meddelelsen. Dem, der bruger Telegram-kanaler til at deltage i diskussioner og dele nyheder, vil blive retsforfulgt og få op til syv års fængsel, bekræfter myndighederne og tilføjer, at 'dem, der abonnerer på ekstremistiske kanaler og chatrum, vil blive udsat for strafferetlig forfølgelse!'
Kommentar: Delvist oversat af Sott.net fra Belarus threatens citizens with SEVEN YEARS behind bars just for following opposition social media accounts & news sites online
Hviderusland vil sikkert gerne undgå at blive et Maidan Ukraine:
Zelensky's Purge: Ukraine's latest internal battles show how hopes for the 2014 Maidan are fading amid fears of totalitarianism
Report says far-right extremists in Ukraine brag they have received training from the Canadian Forces
Freeland's message to Putin: Liberalism will prevail (and Nazis will help)
Og Hviderusland vil sikkert også helst undgå et årti på at komme så langt:
- Kremlin says US and Russia agree Ukraine must give Donbass special autonomous status as Nuland hails productive meeting in Moscow
- Minsk ceasefire protocol published: Ukraine to be decentralized, special status for Lugansk, Donetsk
- US affirms Kiev's new law negating Minsk Agreements
- Ukraine Declaration: Minsk agreement non-binding, effectively cedes Donbass
- Lavrov: Russia has not forgotten Donbass, recognizing DPR/LPR would nullify Minsk requirements
A number of popular opposition-backing websites and social media accounts have been designated as extremist in recent weeks, including Poland-based NEXTA and one of the country's most-read outlets, TUT.by. Citizens could soon be sent to jail just for following their accounts online.
Earlier this month, a Belarusian reporter working for the local branch of Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda went missing while on a trip to Moscow, shortly after his apartment back home was raided by security forces. He has since reappeared in a jail in Minsk and is understood to be facing charges of incitement to hatred and insulting government officials. His editors claim he was abducted while in Russia, while the Kremlin has said it has no evidence either way.
The row comes weeks after IT consultant Andrey Zeltser opened fire on police during an attempt to arrest him in the Belarusian capital. A KGB officer, Dmitry Fedosyuk, was killed in the attack, before Zeltser was himself shot dead.
In the days that followed, Mozheiko published an interview in Komsomolskaya Pravda with a school classmate of Zeltser, who described him as having always stood up for himself and claiming he was not a loud proponent of extreme political views. The next day, Belarus' Ministry of Information ordered Komsomolskaya Pravda to be blocked in the country. It has since ceased operations there, despite objections to the move from Moscow.
Thousands of activists are thought to have been arrested in the wake of last summer's Belarusian presidential election which the opposition, and many international observers, claim was rigged in favor of veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko. Large crowds took to the street over the course of several months, and faced a crackdown from security forces in response. Lukashenko has pledged to stand down after passing a new national constitution, which he claims is set to happen early next year.
Kommentar: This looks to be not so much about Belarus cracking down on free speech but rather them dealing with the issue of foreign-based destabilization efforts through media/journalists.