The Viasna Human Rights Center spoke with people whose relatives were subjected to searches on May 21 and reported details of a mass wave of pressure against Belarusian activists.
Viasna human rights defender Nasta Vasilchuk said that three KGB officers came to her apartment in the morning in connection with her participation in Freedom Day celebrations in Warsaw. According to her, similar visits were also carried out at the homes of acquaintances who had taken part in the event in Vilnius.
“All of yesterday’s events are a vivid indication that repression is not stopping and is increasingly taking on a transnational character,” she said, calling on those affected to contact human rights defenders and document such cases.
Former political prisoner and human rights defender Uladzimir Labkovich said that the search at his home was conducted as part of a new criminal case opened over his activities after release. The authorization had been issued by the Prosecutor General’s Office as early as May 8 but was not used until Political Prisoners’ Day.
“This is a kind of ‘gift’ from the regime. Naturally, it is a signal to both activists and former political prisoners that the hunt and repression continue. It is also an attempt to intimidate civil society through pressure on relatives. Formally, the searches are linked to Freedom Day, which also indicates an attack on national symbols and values. According to unconfirmed information, some searches were conducted as part of a case over ‘discrediting the Republic of Belarus’ (Article 369-1 of the Criminal Code). In my case, they refused to specify the article, but the investigator said it was because of ‘new sins’ after release and because I ‘do not want to reform,’” he commented.
KGB officers also raided the home of the parents of activist Artsiom Basalai, who lives in Poland. According to him, criminal cases have been opened against him for “extremism”, “treason”, and participation in the Freedom Day event in Warsaw. He noted that he had indeed taken part in the event, did not conceal his face and published photographs from it on social media.
“KGB officers accompanied by witnesses forced their way into the apartment at my registered address and into my parents’ apartment, where I neither lived nor was registered. As a result, they inventoried my parents’ property: the refrigerator, washing machine and so on. In addition, my parents were summoned from Maladzechna to Minsk for questioning in my case,” he said.
Viasna lawyer Sviatlana Halaunyova said the developments should be viewed as transnational persecution of Belarusians and recalled that the ICC is already investigating the “Belarus / Lithuania situation”.
“New cases of persecution should not be considered in isolation but as part of the already existing accountability process,” she stressed.