{"id":190593,"date":"2026-06-04T20:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/190593\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T20:29:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:29:21","slug":"viasna-reports-dozens-of-raids-linked-to-exiled-universitys-extremist-designation","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/190593\/","title":{"rendered":"Viasna reports dozens of raids linked to exiled university\u2019s extremist designation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (ehuniversity.lt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

June 4, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Belarusian law enforcers raided more than 30 homes in the case of the Vilnius-based European Humanities University (EHU), which was branded an \u201cextremist\u201d organization in Belarus in mid-April, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The searches are linked to charges of facilitating and financing extremist activities and include threats of criminal persecution to families of current students to force them to leave Lithuania, rights defenders said, describing the actions as \u201ccynical blackmail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee for State Security (KGB) agents reportedly are pressuring parents who have children studying at the EHU to persuade their children to withdraw from the university and return to Belarus. Families are allegedly given up to 10 days to arrange the students\u2019 departure, with warnings that parents could face criminal charges if they refuse. Viasna says that some relatives have already been arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raids and interrogations have continued since June 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KGB also contacted EHU alumni who graduated between 2019 and 2025, demanding that they present their degrees, according to MAYDAYMog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The designation of the EHU as an \u201cextremist” organization in Belarus and persecution of students amount to violations of multiple human rights, including the right to education, academic freedom, freedom of expression and due process guarantees, said Viasna\u2019s lawyer \u015aviat\u0142ana Ha\u0142a\u016dniova.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is yet another example of transnational repressions and can be viewed as a continuation of crimes against humanity,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EHU was founded in Minsk in 1992, but the Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka government shut it down in 2004, forcing it to relocate to Lithuania. Belarusian authorities branded the exiled university as an \u201cextremist\u201d group in April. Association with an extremist group in Belarus carries a penalty of two to seven years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D\u017amitryj Brylo\u016d, a departmental chief at the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office of Belarus, claimed that the exiled university provides support to radical politicized groups and destructive foreign NGOs and is used by state security agencies to cause damage to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its website, EHU receives support from the European Union, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the governments of the Netherlands and Iceland, and other donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until recently, Belarusians accounted for about 74 percent of EHU\u2019s student body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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