BELARUS: Police take relatives' DNA after KGB declares religious freedom group "extremist"

BELARUS: Police take relatives' DNA after KGB declares religious freedom group "extremist"

On 1 April the KGB ruled that religious freedom group Christian Vision, its website and social media channels are "extremist" and banned. Police raided the homes of three relatives of Dzmitry Korneyenko, one of the members identified by the KGB, taking DNA samples from two. "When [my brother] asked the police why they needed his DNA, they responded that it made it easier for them to hunt for me," Korneyenko said. Orsha District Police refused to…

Belarus Declares a Catholic Priest an “Extremist Formation”: A Dangerous New Level of Repression

On April 16, 2025, Belarus’s Ministry of Internal Affairs officially labeled Father Vyacheslav Barok, a Catholic priest from Rossony (Vitebsk Region), as an “extremist formation.” According to the ministry, this classification encompasses his personal online presence – including his YouTube channel, Telegram, Facebook page, and even his email address. In other words, the entire extremist group consists of one man: a priest with a conscience. Fat…

SBA Group has sold its furniture manufacturing company Mebelain in Belarus to one of its managers, a Belarusian citizen, in an indirect transaction. Due to the regulatory environment in Belarus, the company says, other exit options are practically impossible.