Interior ministry blacklists 54 as extremists

April 8, BPN. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has added 54 more names to the list of people it says are involved in extremist activities.

One of them is former investigator Jaŭhien Juškievič, sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment for rioting, inciting hatred, insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka, and committing other supposed offenses. On March 27, the Committee for State Security (KGB) had added Juškievič to its terrorism register.

The interior ministry also blacklisted Ivan Muraŭjoŭ, a journalist, cameraman, photographer, and Hookah bar owner (sentenced to two-and-a-half years); pensioner Ludmiła Bažok (two years of restricted freedom, a form of house arrest); former investigator Mikita Staraženka (sentenced to seven years in a strict-regime colony); critical care anesthesiologist Volha Baruška (two years).

Human rights groups labeled all of them as political prisoners.

The interior ministry’s list now has 2,691 entries.