March 18, Pozirk. Belarus’ Committee for State Security (KGB) outlawed the advocacy organizations Human Constanta and Spadcyna Belarusi and the Northern Lights film festival as “extremist groups” on March 11 in an effort to prosecute activists and organizers.
The interior ministry added the respective entries to its register of “extremist groups” containing 340 items.
The KGB also published the names of individuals allegedly associated with these “extremist” organizations.
Human Constanta: Hanna Baranoŭskaja, Alaksiej Kazluk, Nasta Lojka (serving a seven-year prison term), Jana Hančarova, Enira Branickaja, Valeryja Kustava, Kiryl Kafanaŭ, Andrej Suško and Julija Stasiuk.
Northern Lights – a festival of films from Northern Europe, the Baltics, Ukraine and Belarus launched in Minsk in 2015 – Volha Čajkoŭskaja, Nadzieja Zielankova and Dar’ja Žuk.
Spadcyna Belarusi – a Wrocław-based safe space for political emigrants and LGBT+, –Dar’ja Ziamlanskaja and Anastasija Sasykbajeva.
Following the crackdown on the 2020 postelection protests, authorities in Belarus have equated criticism, solidarity, advocacy, the free media and free expression to extremism and terrorism.
