Spy Thriller About Belarusian Dictatorship Declared “Extremist Materials”

The book “NOA” by French writer Marc Levy has been declared “extremist materials” in Belarus. The decision was made by the Central District Court of Minsk.

“NOA” is a spy thriller set in Belarus. The novel takes place in 2020-2022. In spring 2020, a housewife named Sviatlana wins the presidential election after 27 years of rule by dictator Luchin. The security services take Sviatlana and her children abroad, while her husband, Mikalai, is sent to prison. Repression begins in Belarus. A journalist investigating corruption among the country’s top leadership is killed in Minsk.

According to the novel’s plot, an international group of activist hackers (Group 9) decides to intervene and launches a cyberoperation against dictator Luchin’s regime: the hackers break into closed KGB databases, identify the country’s leadership’s secret offshore accounts, take control of state television, evacuate the families of repressed activists from the country and help opposition figures avoid arrest.

The following have also been added to the list of “extremist” materials:

• Threads accounts “Ілля Міронаў | Concert Promoter”, “Aleks,” “volnybelarus” and “kalifornija.324m”;
• the TikTok account “S&B”;
• Facebook accounts “Анатоль Міхайлаў”, “Алег Лазоўскі” and “The Belarusian-American Association DS”;
• the Telegram, YouTube, Rutube, VK Video and Max channels of Oleg Shalandin and “Полковник Трухан,” as well as the Telegram chat “Чат Олег Шаландин.”

Belarusian authorities regularly use extremism charges to target political opponents and dissent in general.