Belarus outlaws prominent rights group Viasna, declaring it extremist

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities have declared the country’s oldest and most prominent human rights group an extremist organization. The move Wednesday against Viasna — founded by imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, comes amid a yearslong crackdown on dissent in Belarus and exposes anyone involved in its activities to criminal prosecution. Belarus was swept by massive protests, some of which drew more than 100,000 people, after the August 2020 presidential vote handed a sixth term to the country’s authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The election was rejected as fraudulent by the opposition and the West. Authorities responded with a brutal crackdown.