Police may have Nexta’s data, former editor says

December 22, BPN. Reports of a leak of Nexta’s internal correspondence and its communication with followers may be true, and the disclosure may pose a danger to those who sent sensitive information to its administrators, the Telegram channel’s former co-editor Jan Rudzik told BPN.

The leak was reported on December 19 by a Telegram channel affiliated with Belarus’ law-enforcement agencies. It said the government gained access to 30,000 user accounts that had contacted Nexta.

Rudzik said the recent data leaks from the Chernaya Kniga Belarusi channel “have damaged the democratic forces’ overall reputation and credibility.” “It is difficult to choose a more favorable moment to add fuel to the fire, and the use of [Nexta editor] Raman Pratasievič’s archive, which can be in posession of the security forcers after they arrested him in Minsk on May 23, 2021, is to discourage people from telling independent Telegram channels about what is going on in Belarus,” he added.

The journalist said that “for those who sent Nexta important documents when Pratasievič was involved in the project, it is better not to risk and leave the country.”

Previously, law enforcers clamped down on dissidents sharing information with Chernaya Kniga Belarusi (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), an online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters. Police received information from a spy who infiltrated the project, media said.