Belarusian police investigate 200 over opposition’s defense component

December 13, BPN. Law enforcers probe more than 200 Belarusians abroad over the opposition’s group Paspalitaje Rušeńnie.

In a video commentary disseminated by the Belarusian interior ministry, police official Jaŭhien Pilecki said organized crime unit GUBOPiK “received information that the extremist paramilitary formation Paspalitaje Rušeńnie and its so-called gonfalons were created in Poland and Lithuania.”

Members of the group can be used for sabotage, terrorism and “destabilization of the situation inside the country during the electoral campaigns in 2024-2025,” he added. Criminal cases have been filed against Belarusian opposition leaders, including Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.

On November 28, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported that the Belarusian authorities labelled Paspalitaje Rušeńnie (Eng.: mass call-up) as an “extremist” group. Opposition defense chief Valer Sachaščyk had set it up in September in order to protect Belarus’ independence.