Former parliamentary candidate’s online communities branded extremist groups

January 13, BPN. The Belarusian interior ministry has blacklisted a group of subscribers to the media apparently run a former parliamentary candidate, the updated list says.

Authorities said that the group includes 41 subscribers to the Oleg Kozlov YouTube channel and 36 subscribers to the Pol Pervogo Telegram channel, whose name is very similar to Alaksandr Łukašenka’s press office’s unofficial channel Pul Pervogo.

Authorities had blacklisted these accounts as extremist content in late December 2022 and more recently designated their author and subscribers as an extremist group.

Aleh Kazłoŭ, from Choiniki, Homiel region, had launched his YouTube channel back in 2016, when he was running for the House of Representatives. He posted the most recent video 10 months ago.

His most recent Telegram channel post dates back to September 13, commemorating Queen Elizabeth II.

Kazłoŭ condemned the post-election crackdown of opponents in Belarus and supported Ukraine after it was attacked by Russia.

Belarus’ list of extremist groups features a total of 108 entries.