Belarus blocks news site after deaths of dissident, KGB

By YURAS KARMANAU

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarusian authorities connected Wednesday blocked entree to different quality site, the latest successful a bid of steps restricting autarkic media successful the state aft it was shaken by a question of anti-government protests.

The Belarusian Ministry of Information blocked entree to the Komsomolskaya Pravda successful Belarus website, the Belarusian subsidiary of a fashionable Russian paper of the aforesaid name. The ministry didn’t supply immoderate reasons for the determination to artifact the fashionable website, which is visited by immoderate 20,000 users daily.

The entree to it was restricted respective hours aft it ran a communicative astir an alleged shootout successful an flat successful Minsk, the superior of Belarus, during which 2 radical — an absorption protagonist and a KGB serviceman — were killed. The quality outlet published a remark from the absorption supporter’s friend, who described him a affirmative light.

Belarusian authorities reported the incidental connected Tuesday night, alleging that “an particularly unsafe criminal” opened occurrence connected information officers aft they showed up astatine his flat looking for “individuals progressive successful violent activities.” Authorities said 1 of the KGB officers was killed and the perpetrator was killed by “retaliatory fire.”

Footage aired by Belarusian authorities TV channels showed men successful plainclothes, trying to interruption into an apartment.

The authorities haven’t revealed the sanction of the antheral that allegedly changeable astatine the information officers, but said his wife, who was successful the flat astatine the time, was arrested. State quality bureau Belta reported that “members of an extremist radical with ties to the opposition, supposedly, lived successful the apartment.”

Belarus’ authorities often referred to protesters astatine anti-government demonstrations past twelvemonth arsenic “extremists” and “terrorists.” The immense protests came aft predetermination officials gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth word successful the August 2020 statesmanlike predetermination that the absorption and the West person denounced arsenic a sham.

Lukashenko’s authorities unleashed a convulsive crackdown connected the protesters, arresting much than 35,000 radical and severely beating thousands of them.

Franak Viacorka, an advisor to Belarusian absorption person Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, identified the antheral killed arsenic absorption protagonist Andrei Zeltser, 32-year-old worker of 1 of the biggest IT companies successful Belarus. Tsikhanouskaya called his decease “a tragedy” successful a connection Wednesday.

The main exertion of Komsomolskaya Pravda, Vladimir Sungorkin, said Wednesday that entree to its Belarusian website was blocked aft it ran a abbreviated communicative containing “four sentences” from the man’s classmate “about the information that helium was bully feline erstwhile they studied together, ever stood up for the truth.” Sungorkin added that it has go “very difficult” for journalists to enactment successful Belarus.

After the disputed statesmanlike predetermination past year, authorities successful Belarus person unopen down the biggest autarkic media outlets, blocked entree to fashionable quality sites and targeted journalists with raids and detentions. A full of 27 journalists successful Belarus are presently down bars, either already convicted and sentenced oregon awaiting trials.

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Follow each AP stories connected developments successful Belarus astatine https://apnews.com/hub/Belarus.