In Belarus, on Tuesday, February 16, the offices of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), the Human Rights Center "Viasna", the independent trade union of REP and activists fell under the prosecution. Their premises have been searched in several different cities, as was reported by the portal Tut.by.
Early in the morning of February 16, BAJ press secretary Barys Haretski was briefly detained by Belarusian security forces. BAJ’s lawyer Aleh Aheyeu and BAJ’s president Andrei Bastunets were also detained to witness the search of BAJ’s offices. Other searches and raids were underway Tuesday morning at the homes and offices of journalists and human rights activists in various cities across the country.
The Investigative Committee said that the searches were carried out "to establish the circumstances of financing the protest activities". The human rights defenders were detained in two cities Minsk and Mogilev.
These police operations targeted several organisations that position themselves as human rights organisations. These prosecutions are carried out on the basis of Article 342 of the Criminal Code, for “organising and preparing actions that seriously violate public order”. The investigators are trying to identify the sources of funding for the mass demonstrations organised in the country to contest the outcome of the fraudulent elections of 9 August 2020.
The police officers visited the house of freelance journalist Larisa Shchyrakova in Homel. Another journalist from Homel, Anatoly Gotovchits, is wanted.
After the search of the BAJ office, all equipment was seized and the doors were sealed.
According to the latest data, more than 30 human rights defenders’ and journalists’ offices were searched throughout the country. Searches were carried out in Minsk, Mogilev, Gomel, Mozyr, Svetlogorsk, Rechitsa, Vitebsk, Brest and other cities.