MINSK -- The Belarusian Interior Ministry has added two RFE/RL journalists to its list of extremists amid an ongoing crackdown on independent media, opposition politicians, rights activists, and democratic institutions.
People on the list are not eligible for a pardon, and those who are free can be stopped from leaving or entering the country.
Losik, who already had an extremism label attached to his prison clothing, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in December last year on charges that remain unclear. Hruzdzilovich was released in September after serving 18 months in prison for being present at mass protests challenging the official results of the 2020 presidential election that handed authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth term in office. He is currently in Lithuania.
Another jailed RFE/RL correspondent, Andrey Kuznechyk, was added earlier to the list of extremists in Belarus. Kuznechyk was sentenced to six years in prison in June on a charge of creating an extremist group.
Losik, Hruzdzilovich, and Kuznechyk have maintained their innocence, calling the cases against them politically motivated.
The jailed husband of exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, opposition politician Mikalay Statkevich, and other jailed activists and public figures are among the individuals added to the Belarusian Interior Ministry’s list of extremists on November 4.
In all, 1,714 men and women have been added to the list, most of whom were sentenced on politically motivated charges. Many of them have been recognized as political prisoners by domestic and international human rights groups.
The ongoing crackdown was sparked by unprecedented mass rallies challenging the results of the August 2020 presidential poll.
Security forces used sometimes deadly force as they violently detained tens of thousands of people.
Much of the opposition leadership since the election has been jailed or forced into exile. Several protesters have been killed and there also have been credible reports of torture.
Belarusian authorities have also shut down several nongovernmental organizations and independent media outlets.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the police crackdown ordered by officials.
