{"id":147141,"date":"2025-07-17T11:20:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T08:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/147141\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-foreigners-travelling-to-belarus-face-border-interrogations","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/147141\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: foreigners travelling to Belarus face border interrogations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Briefly: Pardoned Estonian branded terrorist in Belarus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initiative linked to jailed politician Dziadok labelled extremist group<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian journalist, opposition politician wanted in Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 17, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus on July 15 and 16 included reports of arrests and interrogations of people returning home from abroad, while some are also arrested while trying to leave the country. All foreigners are subject to interrogation at the border, BGmedia <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police conducted raids in Brest earlier this month ahead of the July 3 celebrations, detaining individuals for up to three days, the local branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. The group noted that the Brest detention center held people arrested at the border among those in custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terrorist and extremist designations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee for State Security (KGB) said it added 15 people to its \u201cterrorist list.\u201d One of them is Allan Roio, an Estonian national, released on June 21 after a meeting in Minsk between Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro-government Telegram channels announced extremist group designation for the Autonomous Action initiative with alleged links to jailed anarchist activists Mika\u0142aj Dziadok and Alaksandar Franckievi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persecution of journalists<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian journalist H\u0142afira \u017duk and opposition politician Ihar Barysa\u016d are wanted in Russia, they said on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One year ago, a<\/span>uthorities seized a land plot belonging to Aksana Ko\u0142b, a former editor-in-chief at\u00a0Novy \u010cas<\/em>, Viasna said, noting that she had only recently learned abo<\/span>ut it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blogger Ruslan Linnik was released after serving more than four years in prison, Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 1,600 people convicted in politically-motivated cases have been freed since 2020, Viasna said. Last month, authorities released at least 33 dissidents, including 13 pardoned and 20 who had served their terms in full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of independent UN experts called on Minsk to immediately begin an effective and transparent investigation into the deaths of citizens imprisoned for expressing political dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade informed law enforcement agencies that the Wildberries marketplace sells \u017dyvie Bie\u0142aru\u015b stickers, which authorities consider a sign of dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 17, human rights defenders identified at least 1,146 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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