{"id":174042,"date":"2026-02-03T12:13:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T09:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"interior-ministry-brands-major-cultural-initiative-as-extremist","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior ministry brands major cultural initiative as extremist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(Bud\u017ama Bie\u0142arusami on Facebbok)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>February 3, <em>Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>The Belarusian interior ministry labelled Bud\u017ama Bie\u0142arusami, an initiative that promotes Belarusian culture, language and education, as an \u201cextremist&#8221; group last week, blacklisting <em>budzma.org<\/em>, all affiliated social media pages, email address, logo and PayPal account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ministry also named Alena Mako\u016dskaja and Nina \u0160yd\u0142o\u016dskaja as its members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The project was launched in 2008 on the initiative of the World Association of Belarusians. Last year, it appealed for donations, citing a critical financial situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Belarusian authorities labelled Bud\u017ama&#8217;s website and social media pages as \u201cextremist&#8221; content three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The official register of extremist groups now has 331 entries. Following the crackdown on the 2020 postelection protests, authorities in Belarus have been equating criticism, solidarity, advocacy, free media and free expression to extremism and terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Association with an extremist group carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> \u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">\u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Reprisals: authorities keep using extremist labels to silence regime critics<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">February 3, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus from January 31 to February 2 targeted people sharing opposition content that authorities deem extremist. The interior ministry\u2019s organized crime unit held an event on extremism-related offenses at a &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/174024\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 3, Pozirk. The Belarusian interior ministry labelled Bud\u017ama Bie\u0142arusami, an initiative that promotes Belarusian culture, language and education, as an \u201cextremist&#8221; group last week, blacklisting budzma.org, all affiliated social media pages, email address, logo and PayPal account. The ministry also named Alena Mako\u016dskaja and Nina \u0160yd\u0142o\u016dskaja as its members. The project was launched in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":174033,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-174042","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Interior ministry brands major cultural initiative as extremist | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"February 3, Pozirk. The Belarusian interior ministry labelled Bud\u017ama Bie\u0142arusami, an initiative that promotes Belarusian culture, language and education,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interior ministry brands major cultural initiative as extremist | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 3, Pozirk. The Belarusian interior ministry labelled Bud\u017ama Bie\u0142arusami, an initiative that promotes Belarusian culture, language and education,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/\"},\"headline\":\"Interior ministry brands major cultural initiative as extremist\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-03T09:13:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/\"},\"wordCount\":152,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/\",\"name\":\"Interior ministry brands major cultural initiative as extremist | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174042\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/budzma_fb_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-03T09:13:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"February 3, Pozirk. 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