In Belarus, 125 people who returned from abroad were detained over the year
Kyiv • UNN
Belarus has detained 125 citizens returning from abroad, mostly from Lithuania, often for "extremist materials" after phone checks by the authorities. Human rights activists believe the real number is higher.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 125 Belarusian citizens have been detained after returning to the country from abroad. Most of the detainees were returning from Lithuania. This is reported by the Human Rights Center "Vesna", DW reports, UNN writes.
Details
It is noted that the vast majority were detained after checking their phones by KGB or customs officers, and most of them were later brought to administrative responsibility for "disseminating extremist materials.
About 20 people detained in 2022-2023 were convicted in criminal cases, human rights activists said.
Most of the detainees were returning from Lithuania, but detentions occur at all checkpoints, including the border with Russia. "125 are just the known exact facts, there are actually more,
In 2022, there were about 60 cases of detention after returning from abroad.
