One year since BelaPAN designated extremist group
November 1, BPN. One year ago, BelaPAN was the first media outlet blacklisted by the authorities as an extremist group.
Interior ministry and the Committee for the State Security (KBB) added the private news agency to the extremist list that now features a total of ten media outlets, including Belsat TV, Radio Svaboda, Naša Niva, and Euroradio.
BelaPAN’s entry was actually added on November 12, a week before its 30th anniversary. The editorial staff immediately suspended its operation to protect BelaPAN and Naviny.by journalists.
By that time, BelaPAN editor in chief Iryna Leŭšyna and former CEO Dźmitryj Navažyłaŭ had been in custody for almost three months, and its former deputy head Andrej Alaksandraŭ, for ten months.
Authorities brought the charge of creating and running an extremist group to charges of treason, tax evasion, and participating in protests against them.
On October 6, a court in Minsk convicted Leŭšyna of creating and running an extremist group and sentenced her to four years in prison; Navažyłaŭ was given four years for creating and running an extremist group of the aggregate six-year prison term, and Alaksandraŭ, five years out of 14. It remains unclear, whether any other BelaPAN staff members were suspected or charged.
Inclusion of BelaPAN and other media outlets in the list of extremist groups is an attempt to cut off its audience, Barys Harecki, deputy chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) told BPN, a news agency launched by some BelaPAN team members abroad.
“Any group of people can be declared extremists, and it is impossible to appeal against this [decision],” he noted. That media policy helps make people more susceptible to propaganda, he said.
Nevertheless, independent media outlets continue working, with safety being their first priority as they have to protect their journalists and sources, Harecki said.
- PoliticsReprisals: pressure on jailed dissidents, harassment of exiles continueThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityUkraine’s top diplomat: Kyiv adopting more coherent Belarus policyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyBelarusians granted less than quarter of 2019 Schengen visa total in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SecurityOpposition leader condemns Russian drone strike on building in RomaniaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsInterior ministry brands famous musician Chamienka, 18 others as “extremists”The material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyNumber of children in Belarus down 28 percent since 2000The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsLukašenka pledges “to do everything for Cuba”The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityBelarus’ diplomat assures UN of Minsk’s commitment to peaceThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- PoliticsSenior Belarus’, Slovakia’s diplomats hold political consultations in MinskThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights groups identify 16 new political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsIrregular Belarus-EU crossings hit seven-month high in MayThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityTroops train to receive and sort the woundedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyHouseholds’ disposable income up 14 percent in Q1 – BiełstatThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus to offer free lung cancer screening for high-risk over-50sThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsKyiv court rules to extend detention of suspected KGB spyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Society, SportIIHF clears Belarus men's hockey U18, women’s teams to compete – reportsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyArchbishop Stanieŭski raises alarm over Catholic clergy shortage in BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+



