"There's a lot of such stories: I was removed from the bus." Viasna reports how Belarusians are still detained at the border
In the first month and a half of 2025, several dozen people were detained upon their return to Belarus. Several people can be removed from one scheduled bus from Lithuania or Poland at once. "Extremist" reposts and subscriptions on social media, photos from protests in cloud storage, donations, and Google search history may become a reason for the detention. Additional checks at the border are also targeted at people who were previously detained at protests and were included in the BESporiadki database, and those who have not lived in Belarus for a long time.
In early February, it became known that six people were detained from one scheduled bus at once. All the detainees were placed in a temporary detention facility in the city nearest to the customs before the trial, after which some were sentenced to several days of detention. Usually, people who are detained at a checkpoint are tried for "spreading extremist materials" (Article 19.11 of the Administrative Code). The exception may be those who are detained by the KGB. In this case, if the interrogation takes place in Minsk, a report is drawn up against them for "minor hooliganism" (Article 19.1 of the Administrative Code), or they are immediately placed in a pre-trial detention center as part of a criminal case.
Viasna is aware of cases where a person has crossed borders many times over the past few years and has never faced additional checks; during their stay in Belarus, they were not detained; but as a result, when they tried to enter Belarus, immediately after passport control they were detained. Therefore, it is worth noting that the situation is constantly changing and there are no guarantees that a person who previously entered and left without problems will not come to the attention of the security forces due to some new facts of their protest activity in the past.
Detention after returning to Belarus does not necessarily take place immediately at the border. The security forces come for some of them after a few days, or they call and ask the latter to come for a conversation.
In addition, interrogations of Ukrainians who come to Belarus continue at the border. Conversations last from a few minutes to several hours. Therefore, scheduled buses have to wait for several hours for their return.
BYSOL recently announced increased checks at the border when leaving the country.
In addition, we remind you that the security forces are monitoring participants in Belarusian solidarity actions taking place abroad. In late January, the Prosecutor General's Office announced that it had "identified 365 participants in the protests abroad." They are going to bring all of them to criminal responsibility in special proceedings. Most of those identified are from Warsaw (203 people). The agency also mentioned that they would search for property in Belarus belonging to participants of the protests, "including property registered under other individuals". It is known that in previous years, the security forces have already brought participants in foreign actions to administrative responsibility.
Risks of return: criminal cases and detentions at the Belarusian border
What does border detention look like?
A former prisoner from Akrescina came under persecution after returning from abroad from the European Union at the end of 2024. After passport control at one of the Belarusian checkpoints, she was removed from the bus. According to her, the detentions upon returning to Belarus are not isolated.
"There's a lot of such stories: I was removed from the bus. I was detained by the KGB — there are also many such stories. There were three of us in the first temporary detention facility cell. Everything was okay, no one was beating us or twisting our arms. It just took a long time.
When you go through border control, they probably check you in some bases, since everything was clear from the expression on the customs officer's face. She smiled in a way that I immediately realized that everything was bad. I wasn't on any lists before, because I had entered the country and there had never been any checks.
They asked what we did abroad, where we went, who we talked to. They checked correspondence. They found a phrase in the messages of one girl: 'Let's meet, I'll give you the money.' It's just that her friend passed some money for her mother through that girl. And they asked what kind of money. That is, 'financing from abroad' is a red rag for them. And for any mention of contacts, money, or transfers, they start shouting: 'You're going to jail for 25 years.'"
"They could be doused with a bucket of water and then tasered." Stories of former political prisoners
Pay attention! Human rights activists remind you that persecution in Belarus has been taking place daily for almost five years. If you have been socially and politically active since 2020 to this day: you took part in protests in Belarus and abroad, left comments on social media, donated to support victims in Belarus or Ukraine, were active in a neighbourhood chat, which you left a long time ago, once posted a new music video on Facebook of your favourite Belarusian band whose songs have been recognized as extremist, the risks of persecution upon return to Belarus are very high. Please take care of your safety, and do not forget about your relatives and friends whose messages or photos from the protests can be found on your phone.
Considering this, human rights activists recommend, first of all, to be vigilant: to consider individual risks when deciding to return to Belarus and to use safety rules. If the risks of return are high, it is better not to return to the country at all. If something happens, friends and relatives should be warned so that they can share information with independent media or human rights defenders, as well as use legal advice.
If you have faced politically motivated persecution, have been convicted in an administrative or criminal case, or have served your sentence in a temporary detention facility, please inform human rights defenders via Telegram @Viasnainfo. Help us record all the facts of repression to show the world the scale of the human rights disaster in Belarus! You can get legal advice on @ViasnaSOS.
