{"id":112465,"date":"2024-11-04T11:48:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T08:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/112465\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"rights-group-authorities-suspect-regime-critics-of-plotting-to-seize-power","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/112465\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights group: KGB arresting critics fearing a plot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

November 4, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The recent wave of arrests in Belarus may be linked to a new criminal case on charges of conspiracy to seize state power, the Viasna Human Rights Center said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agents of the Committee for State Security (KGB) carried out the mass raids across Belarus last week. Some of the arrested are behind bars, while others were released as witnesses in a criminal case, according to Viasna. The names of the arrested remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law enforcers reportedly targeted local chats that had cropped up during the 2020 postelection protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, police made at least 20 arrests in Chojniki, Homiel region, including employees of a local creamery, following mass raids in the Hrodna region\u2019s Smarho\u0144 and Va\u016dkavysk as well as Minsk region\u2019s Ma\u0142adzie\u010dna district. Officers checked people\u2019s smartphones and used geolocation data to see if they attended 2020 protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police raids featuring excessive use of force may be a planned scare campaign in the run-up to the January presidential election, Viasna noted earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rights groups also have information about arrests of people who have recently returned to Belarus from abroad. Police usually block cell phone services shortly before coming to arrest people, they warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus will hold its seventh presidential election from January 21 to 26, with the whole election cycle limited to just three months. The previous 2020 presidential race was marred fraud and police brutality against peaceful protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities filed 7,400 politically-motivated criminal cases in the four years since the 2020 election, Viasna reported in late October. As of November 4, human rights defenders identified at least 1,298 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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