According to law enforcement official Vyachaslau Arlouski, the Interior Ministry is preparing a list of individuals who are related to the “extremist activity”.
“Soon we will form another list, of individuals (citizens of Belarus, foreigners, and stateless persons) involved in extremist activity. It will also appear on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the processing of large amounts of information takes time,” said Arlouski in an interview with the newspaper “Na Strazhe” (On Guard).
It is noted that the list will include the data of those already convicted of “extremist crimes” and will be updated regularly.
However, it remains unclear what “extremist crimes” are meant. As a reminder, representatives of the Lukashenka regime now use the words “extremism” and “destructive activity” to refer to any manifestation of protest sentiments and dissent. De facto, law enforcement officers consider all politically motivated cases (currently over 5 thousand) extremist, and political prisoners in prisons and colonies are placed on preventive lists as individuals allegedly “prone to extremism.”
According to Arlouski, the data from the “extremist database” will be kept for five years after the conviction is expunged.
“During this time, they will be prohibited from holding certain positions (government, military service), teaching, publishing and activities related to the legal turnover of weapons, explosives,” he added.
In addition, dissenters risk deportation, prohibition of entry or deprivation of citizenship. They will also be subject to special financial control by the state anti-corruption agency.
Arlouski emphasized that “in essence, all subscribers participate in the popularization of an extremist resource, so they may formally become parties to criminal prosecution. But the representative of police promised to treat each case “individually.”
Arlouski also said that courts in Belarus have already recognized more than 300 “destructive media resources” as prohibited. But he added that in order to recognize a particular group as an “extremist formation,” it is not even necessary for the outlet to be declared “extremist.”
The audience of the outlets officially recognized as “extremist” is hundreds of thousands of people. Almost 940 thousand people are subscribed to the Telegram channel “NEXTA Live”.
