News on the topic: KGB
16.12.2008 KGB officers blackmail activist’s mother
KGB officers threatened the mother of Young Front member Yulian Misiukevich with expulsion of her son from university if she refused to appear on BT state TV channel.
12.12.2008 Court justifies ‘Svaboda’
On 12 December Iuye district court held a repeated trial concerning ‘extremist articles’ in August issue of the unregistered newspaper Svaboda. According to the lawyer Pavel Sapelka, who represented the newspaper’s interests at the trial, the court rejected the suit of Ihar Siarheyenka, head of Hrodna oblast KGB department, as no extremist articles have been found in the issue in question.
12.12.2008 Legislative invention of Belarusian KGB
Introduction of administrative responsibility for divulging state secrets through negligence is planned in Belarus.
11.12.2008 Detention on the Ukrainian border
Activists of the Belarusian opposition may face problems at the border crossing point Makrany in Malaryta district on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
10.12.2008 KGB warns lyceum pupils
On 9 December a KGB officer paid a visit to lyceum #7 to talk to the 18-year-old pupils Siarhei Svirydau and Artur Zaitsau. He introduced himself as Andrei and explained his visit with the necessity to warn them about the inadmissibility of participation in unregistered youth organizations.
11.11.2008 KGB is interested in priest’s activities
On 5 November Siarhei Vashkevich, an aide of a protestant pastor Viachaslau Hancharenka at Novaye Zhyttsio church, received a writ from KGB. According to this document, he was to come to Minsk and Minsk oblast KGB department on at 2 p.m. on 10 November for giving explanations.
10.11.2008 Minsk: ‘Young Front’ activists detained for action near KGB office
Seven members of the Young Front opposition youth group were grabbed by police during a demonstration near the headquarters of the Committee for State Security (KGB) in Minsk on 7 November. The young people were standing in front of the KGB founder Felix Dzerzhinsky's bust, holding a sign that said, ‘Communism must be brought before tribunal!’
05.11.2008 Brest: procuracy does not grant Yauhen Skrabets’ complaint
Recently the democratic activist Yauhen Skrabets has complained to the procuracy of Maskouski district of Brest about unlawful confiscation of printed editions, DVD disks and a computer hard drive during a search in his parents’ apartment.
05.11.2008 No ‘extremism’ in ‘Svaboda’?
On 5 November Hrodna oblast court considered the cassation complaint against the verdict of Iuye district court by which an August issue of the Svaboda newspaper had been declared extremist. The judge Alexander Sitsko ruled to return the case to Iuye district court for review.
14.10.2008 Winners of school Olympiads in chemistry are summonsed to KGB
In Minsk the winners of the school Olympiads in chemistry are summonsed to the KGB office. They are questioned in connection with the blast that had taken place on 4 July in the morning, at the celebration of the official Independence Day. Fingerprints and saliva samples are also taken from them.
17.09.2008 Valiantsin Stefanovic: authorities have another chance to prosecute opposition members
Lawyer and human rights defender Valiantsin Stefanovic comments on a number of suits filed by Hrodna KGB asking to recognize that the seized printed editions are of extremist nature: “We observe unprecedented processes when the regional Committee for State Security (KGB) appeals to court under the Code of Civic Procedures, asking to recognize the legal fact that some printed editions are extremist. Among the editions on their list there is the Chronicle Review of Human Rights Violations in Belarus”, published by Viasna in 2004. According to the plaintiffs, it contains pictures from the rallies of anti-Belarusian nature: the Freedom Day, the Chernobyl March, Ancestors’ day, and others. The KGB also thinks the Review contains calls to overthrow the regime in an unconstitutional way. Meanwhile, in 2004, when the draft law "about counteraction to extremism" was still considered by the parliament, we warned the Belarusian society about possible usage of the law against the political opposition and dissidents. Now, in Hrodna, we are actually observing the facts when any kind of criticism, including publishing of human rights materials, is assessed as extremist and containing (although it is still not clear, where) calls to anti-constitutional change of state system. In our opinion, this is a very dangerous tendency. Although the law does not contain any sanctions and is more of a guiding nature, it still can be logically concluded that if the materials (in our case, the Chronicle Review of Human Rights Violations in Belarus -- 2004) are recognized extremist editions containing calls to overthrow the constitutional system, then their authors might be prosecuted. We have a criminal article “Calls to overthrow the constitutional system”, which provides for criminal responsibility for such actions. This way, the Belarusian authorities have another chance to prosecute dissidents. Now we need to do everything we can to draw the public attention to these lawsuits. Moreover, we are in the election period at the moment. We should not allow for such a persecution now.
15.09.2008 KGB ‘checks’ workers of Institute of History
In the second half of August and in the beginning of September KGB officers held a ‘voluntary’ questioning of workers of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus in connection with the 4 July explosion in Minsk. The ‘questioning’ was conducted in the working time. The KGB workers occupied the scientists’ offices and working places for it. Those who refused to participate in these measures are threatened with dismissal.
15.09.2008 ‘Extremist materials’ found on youth activist’s computer 18 months after confiscation
On 13 September a student of Bialystok University Aliaksei Trubkin received documents from Hrodna regional KGB department by post. According to them, the guy is to come to the court of Kastrychnitski district in Hrodna on 18 September, as he is charged with ‘extremism’.
10.09.2008 Brest: attempt to kidnap an activist of the United Civil Party
In the evening on 8 September an attempt to kidnap Yury Panasyuk, an activist of the Young Democrats (youth organization of the United Civil Party), was committed in Brest.
17.08.2008 Blast investigation does not change direction
Aleh Pronski, Masty activist of the Movement for Freedom, nominated to the precinct election commission, was invited to visit the local KGB office. The guy spent the last two months abroad, but they want to talk about Minsk explosion with him.
