Five opposition activists accused of forming extremist group

November 15, BPN. Investigators have charged five members of Sajuz Biełaruskaha Nacyanalnaha Ščyta (Eng. Union of the Belarusian National Shield) with organizing and running an extremist group, the Belarusian interior ministry reported.

While it did not explicitly specify the initiative, it still noted that all arrested were “united by a Telegram group blacklisted as extremist in early November.” Sajuz Biełaruskaha Nacyanalnaha Ščyta was the only initiative designated as extremist group in November.

A few days ago, police arrested five young men aged between 16 and 26 years, including three minors, police official Jaŭhien Pilecki said. He added that the arrested have been administering four TikTok accounts and two Telegram channels since 2020 to encouraged Belarusians to take part in protests.

He claimed that the arrested looked for “perpetrators to destroy infrastructure and organize attacks on police officers.”

One of the suspects, a 17-year-old resident of Kaściukovičy, Mahiloŭ region, was previously convicted for desecration of facilities and damage to property, Pilecki said. The 26-year-old activist from Smarhoń, Hrodna region, has a criminal record for theft and allegedly has extreme right-wing nationalist views, according to the police official. The third suspect from Buda-Kašalova, Homiel region, was going to fight Russia in Ukraine, he added.

The interior ministry posted a video with the arrested, where one of them (face hidden, name withheld) admits, clearly under duress, to preparing for a future guerrilla war and calling for illegal actions against the authorities.