As a result of regular searches and raids, representatives of at least 19 public organizations were detained in Belarus.
The US State Department has condemned a new wave of searches and arrests in Belarus aimed at employees of non-governmental organizations and representatives of civil society. This is stated in a statement by Ned Price, an official representative of the State Department, which was published on Twitter.
“We join our partners in condemning today’s raids by the Belarusian authorities against at least 19 public, political and educational NGOs. It is clear that there is a political crisis in Belarus. The only way out is to stop the repression and release all political prisoners, ” Price wrote.
Earlier, US Ambassador to Belarus Julie Fischer also condemned the new repressions of the Lukashenka regime, writing on Twitter that ” the regime’s continuous attempts to criminalize independent voices, human rights defenders and representatives of civil society… it is the reason for the international isolation of Belarus.”
As reported o in the Belarusian human rights center “Viasna”, on the morning of July 14, law enforcement officers came to search the offices of at least a dozen major Belarusian public and human rights organizations, opposition groups, as well as the homes of public figures
The list includes: the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the human rights organization Human Constanta, the independent academic research center BEROC, the human rights organization “Gender Perspectives”, the World Union of Belarusians” Batskayshchyna”, the opposition party” Belarusian People’s Front”, the democratic movement “For Freedom” and the publishing house “Names.”
According to Viasna, at least 12 people were detained, including one of the leaders of Viasna, Valentin Stefanovich and his colleagues Vladimir Labkovich, Elena Laptenok, Andrey Paluda, Oleg Matskevich, Igor Kazmerchak, Viktor Sazonov and Marina Statkevich. According to Viasna, the searches were carried out by employees of the Financial Investigations Department of the State Control Committee.
