The Interior Ministry has added 29 more people to the “List of Citizens of the Republic of Belarus, Foreign Citizens or Stateless Persons Involved in Extremist Activities”.
Among them is Lithuanian citizen Maria Batalionok, who was among 123 people “pardoned” by Alyaksandr Lukashenka on 13 December last year. The Interior Ministry list states that she “is serving her sentence”.
Maria Batalionok was taken into custody in a criminal case under Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code (“Creation of an extremist formation or participation in it”). The KGB considered Maria involved in the project “Gorodskoi Ogorod Maris Mar”, which was designated an “extremist formation”.
Maria has a small child who is breastfed. In October 2025, a court sentenced her to four years in a general-regime colony and a fine of 29,000 roubles.
The list now contains 6,175 names.
Belarusian authorities regularly use extremism-related charges to target political opponents and dissent in general.