{"id":198933,"date":"2026-08-06T21:51:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T18:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198933\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T23:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T20:31:46","slug":"rights-defenders-report-183-cases-of-persecution-linked-to-ehu","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198933\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights defenders report 183 cases of persecution linked to EHU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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August 6, Pozirk<\/em><\/strong><\/em>. <\/strong>Human rights defenders have recorded 183 cases of politically motivated persecution over links to European Humanities University (EHU) in Vilnius, including 156 inside Belarus, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported on August 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several relatives of EHU students have been sentenced to 15 days in jail under the Administrative Offenses Code, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 14, 2026, the Supreme Court of Belarus designated European Humanities University as an \u201cextremist organization.\u201d D\u017amitryj Brylo\u016d, a departmental chief at the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office, claimed that the exiled university provides support to radical politicized groups and destructive foreign NGOs and is used by state security agencies to cause damage to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Association with an extremist group in Belarus carries a penalty of two to seven years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities opened a criminal case over tuition fees paid to EHU since 2016, with individuals linked to the university facing charges of facilitating and financing \u201cextremism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian law enforcers have conducted more than 30 searches targeting EHU\u2019s alumni, students and staff as well as their relatives, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported on June 10. The Committee for State Security (KGB) reportedly threatens the parents of current students with criminal prosecution if they fail to talk their children into terminating their studies and returning to Belarus within 10 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relatives of some students were said to have been arrested. KGB officers were also visiting people who graduated from EHU between 2019 and 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 100 students have already left EHU fearing extremist-related persecution in Belarus, Rector Vilius \u0160adauskas told the Belarusian Association of Journalists at the end of May. Two lecturers and several IT workers employed on a part-time basis also resigned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of June, Prosecutor General D\u017amitryj Hara said that there are no plans to punish every single person who had something to do with EHU.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

European Humanities University was founded in Minsk in 1992 as a pioneering independent institution that introduced Western-style liberal arts education and critical thinking to post-Soviet Belarus. Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s government shut EHU down in 2004, prompting its relocation to Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its website, EHU receives support from the European Union, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the governments of Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Iceland, and other donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until recently, Belarusians accounted for about 74 percent of EHU\u2019s student body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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