Ministry declares Zerkalo newsroom extremist group

June 12, BPN. The Belarusian interior ministry on June 9 declared the independent news website Zerkalo and its social media an extremist group, according to an updated list on the ministry’s website.

The designation is part of a wide-scale crackdown on media freedom that began after the disputed presidential election in 2020.

A Minsk judge had already declared Zerkalo’s articles extremist back in 2021.

The authorities crushed Tut.by, the country’s most popular news portal, earlier that year, forcing its journalists to found Zerkalo.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said that authorities continued to persecute media, journalists, bloggers and ordinary citizens on extremism charges for voicing dissenting opinions. Sixteen media were labeled extremist as of early April.