KGB brands three exiled independent Belarusian publishers as extremist

March 9, Pozirk. The Committee for State Security (KGB) branded the coalition of the Kamunikat.org Foundation, the Lohvinau Publishing House and Andrei Yanushkevich Publishing as an “extremist” group on March 3 amid a major crackdown on Belarusian-language publishers.
The KGB listed Jarasłaŭ Ivaniuk, Dźmitryj Kołas, Ihar Łohvinaŭ, Vacłaŭ Bahdanovič, Andrej Januškievič and Alaksandar Jaŭdach as members, designating their websites and social media pages as extremist content, according to the interior ministry’s updated online register.
The move comes weeks after the KGB blacklisted the Krakow-based Gutenberg Publisher.
The designation followed a raid by Belarusian police on apartments and offices linked to book publishers and distributors last month in Minsk that ended in about 10 arrests. In the same week, Technalohija, a Minsk-based publisher of books in Belarusian, announced its decision to terminate operations without specifying any reasons.
In 2023, Belarusian government enacted legislation that empowered the information ministry to suspend and close down publishers without taking disputes to court, a mandatory requirement before.
Many publishers of books in Belarusian have lost their licenses, including Medisont, Halijafy, Limaryjus, Knihazbor and Januškievič. Some of the publishers continue operations in exile.
KGB designates PEN Belarus as extremist group
- EconomyUnprofitable companies up 3.7 percent in five yearsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyIrregular Belarus-EU crossings exceed 1,100 since September 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyOpposition politician proposes naming Free Belarusian University after MilinkievičThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyCichanoŭskaja: Finland to allocate €100,000 for Belarusian reprisal victimsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsPolish FM meets Ryžankoŭ on sidelines of UN high-level week in New YorkThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Politics
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja meets with EU foreign policy chief, other leaders in New YorkThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityFemale killer deployed via Belarus to assassinate Russian opposition figure has been arrested in Kyiv, SBU saysThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityTerritorial forces in Homiel region hold counter-drone drillThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyŁukašenka tells officials to tackle housing construction dropThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsPremier of Canada’s potash-rich province warns USA against “buying blood potash from Belarus”The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyHaraŭski acquittal goes to appeal in SwitzerlandThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- SocietyLatvia finds 100,000 contraband cigarettes from Belarus in railcarThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja in New York urges solution for Belarusians without IDsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsUkraine's top diplomat warns against easing sanctions on MinskThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyVilnius airport halts operations over cigarette-smuggling balloons from BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsKGB arrests pilots at airbase near Minsk as political purges grind onThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SocietyPačobut set to return to Belarus permanentlyThe material is available only to POZIRK+



