April 29, Pozirk. The interior ministry has labeled “the founders, administrators and other participants” associated with Deutsche Welle (DW) Belarus as an extremist group, says its updated online register that contains 199 entries.
The extremist designation also covers the website of Germany’s international broadcaster with a subsection dedicated to Belarus and DW Belarus social media.
In early March 2022, a Minsk judge branded DW online resources and the logo as extremist content. Belarus-based users have not been able to access its website since October 2021.
Authorities also blacklisted the UDF news aggregator’s team and followers, including udf.name and amp.udf.by websites and the project’s social media pages.
Many independent media outlets were branded extremist groups for political reasons in Belarus after the disputed 2020 presidential election.
Belarusian authorities routinely use terrorism and extremism designations to silence critical voices.
Association with an extremist group carries a penalty of two to seven years in prison.
