Bank Accounts Of Belarusian Association Of Journalists Frozen, More NGO Workers Detained

By: - July 20, 2021

Source link

Authorities have frozen the bank accounts of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAZh) and detained more people amid a severe crackdown on nongovernmental organizations.

The BAZh said on Telegram on July 20 that its bank accounts and all bank operations had been frozen in the aftermath of police searches of their offices last week.

Media reports said police also detained well-known historians Andrus and Tatsyana Mastyka, who in the past used to lead the civic group Historyka. The couple was detained after police searched their home in Minsk on July 19.

Another opposition figure, Yuras Hubarevich, said on July 20 that his former wife, Stasya Hubarevich, was detained on that day after police searched her apartment, where he is officially registered. Hubarevich is the chairman of the For Freedom movement.

Belarusian authorities have moved to shut down critical and nonstate media outlets and human right bodies in the wake of mass protests after a disputed presidential election last August. The opposition and the West say Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya won the vote and accuse authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka of falsifying the landslide result to give him a sixth consecutive term in power.

A day earlier, the Belarusian PEN-club and the charitable organization Imena (Names) said they were informed on July 19 that their bank accounts had been frozen without explanation.

“In all over the past few days, 66 searches have been performed in homes and offices of media representatives. A large series of searches was also conducted at the homes and offices of many NGOs and human rights groups. The Belarusian Association of Journalists thanks all the people who support the organization and all truthful journalists during this complex time. Let us stay together!” the BAZh statement said.

Authorities have not given reasons for any of the searches, nor have they explained why they detained the Mastykas or Hubarevich. In May, the Justice Ministry officially warned Hubarevich’s movement for allegedly failing to comply with a requirement to register the group’s legal address.

Belarus has been mired in turmoil since the disputed presidential election.

Lukashenka has since put down street protests and dissent over the vote with sometimes lethal force, jailing thousands of people and forcing most opposition leaders who haven’t been imprisoned to leave the country.

The West, which has refused to recognize the official results of the vote and does not consider Lukashenka to be the country’s legitimate leader, has imposed several rounds of sanctions against the 66-year-old, some of his family members, other senior officials, and on key economic sectors.

The EU recently imposed further far-reaching penalties aimed at weakening the regime after the forced landing of a European passenger plane in Minsk and the arrest of an opposition blogger who was on board.

In April, Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey publicly warned that further Western sanctions against Lukashenka’s government will be met by a crackdown on the country’s civil society.

“Any further toughening of the sanctions will lead to the situation where civil society [in Belarus] of which they [in the West] care will stop functioning. And that will be, I believe, absolutely grounded in the current situation,” Makey said at the time.

  • RSS WND

    • WATCH: Tucker Carlson: How will AI affect work?
      Mike Rowe, still one of the best guys in the world. pic.twitter.com/06WduOhPuB — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 28, 2024 For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider! Content created… […]
    • MSNBC: 1 man's 'election denier' is another man's TV host
      MSNBC, the "news" outfit on which the Rev. Al Sharpton has a show, briefly hired former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, at $300,000 per year, to serve as an on-air pundit. Why did the rabidly anti-Trump, anti-Republican network make her the offer? MSNBC likely did so because 2024 is an election year; McDaniel was… […]
    • Dems' weakest case against Trump is first to go to trial
      Donald Trump was first indicted nearly a year ago, on April 4, 2023, when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced charges against the former president over a nondisclosure agreement Trump used to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he had apparently had a brief sexual encounter. Bragg, an elected Democrat, won… […]
    • White House adds hair-sniffing contest to Easter Egg Roll!
      It's about time again for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. What the resurrection of Jesus has to do with eggs, chocolate candy, jelly beans or peeps is beyond me. Jesus did not arise from the dead and walk through the walls of the tomb holding an Easter basket and looking for eggs laid… […]
    • Say it, media: DEMOCRATS are prosecuting Trump
      On March 25, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart uncorked a typical not-so-funny sermon about how Donald Trump overvaluing real estate properties was not a "victimless crime." Trump has been found liable for fraud despite no banker or financier ever claiming Trump victimized them. Then the New York Post reported talk-show host Tim Pool tweeted that… […]
    • Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win
      In their weekly podcast, Hollywood veteran Loy Edge and longtime WND columnist Jack Cashill skirt the everyday politics downstream and travel merrily upstream to the source of our extraordinary culture. The post Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win appeared first on WND.
    • The shocking beliefs of America's powerful 'elites'
      It is becoming increasingly clear that some of America's most serious problems can be traced back to our colleges and universities – or at least the ones educating the country's most powerful people. The Vietnam War era aside, it has traditionally been uncommon for events at universities to make national headlines. Absent something extraordinary, like… […]
    • Who is really behind Moscow terror attack?
      Was the Islamic State (ISIS) behind the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow that killed 139 and wounded 182 on March 22, 2024, or not? The Islamic State did claim the attack, and the Western mainstream is agreed that the terror group was, indeed, behind it. On March 25, White House press secretary Karine… […]
    • Only Democrats get to lie on NBC News
      Ronna McDaniel, formerly chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, was recently hired and subsequently fired by NBC News when the "talent," unable to countenance even moderate dissent, revolted on air. The entire kerfuffle is unsurprising considering the state of modern "media." But one of the funniest moments of the McDaniel blowup came when host and… […]
    • Accept $40,000 loan offer from 'FIL'?
      Dear Dave, My wife and I owe about $40,000 on our mortgage. My father-in-law, who is a very nice and generous man, said he wants to pay off the house for us, then let us pay him back over time. We've borrowed much smaller amounts of money from him in the past, and we were… […]
  • Enter My WorldView