Opposition leader calls for global reaction to mass raids in Belarus

January 24, Pozirk. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja condemned the January 23 raids across Belarus that targeted political prisoners’ families. 

“I call on the global community to respond decisively to this atrocity,” she said on X.

At least 84 people were arrested yesterday, among them Maryna Adamovič, wife of opposition politician Mikałaj Statkievič currently serving a lengthy prison term in a politically-motivated case.

Some of the arrested were released later after signing non-disclosure agreements. The Committee for State Security (KGB) reportedly mentioned extremism-related charges. Authorities did not disclose the exact number of the arrests.

Some of the arrests may be linked to INeedHelpBY, an opposition initiative that helps reprisal victims buy food. On January 23, the KGB declared it an “extremist” group.

Officers from the KGB and the Investigative Committee interrogated the arrested, asking questions about food parcels that relatives of political prisoners received via the Evroopt delivery service, sources told Pozirk.

Authorities seized electronic devices from some of the arrested.