Interior ministry declares Telegram communities extremist

July 12, BPN. The Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs has recognized the community Karniki Maładziečna on an encrypted messaging app as an “extremist group,” according to an updated list on the ministry’s website. The group has not been active since April 2022.

Separately, it blacklisted the Telegram account Oppozitsiya and the Telegram bot Narodny Mstitel.

The Viasna Human Rights Center assumes that the police has made this decision because it has arrested someone associated with these groups.

It said law enforcers had repeatedly used the tactic of arresting people affiliated with Telegram channels, declaring their content extremist and then charging the arrestees with extremism.

Following mass protests against vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election, authorities routinely use extremism charges to jail opposition activists.