The Supreme Court of Belarus recognized the Belarusian Investigation Center (BRC) as an extremist organization, satisfying the corresponding petition of the Prosecutor General. This is stated in a message on the telegram channel of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Belarus.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus, information published by the BRC is presented in such a way that:
“deliberately increase the level of tension in society, create an atmosphere of rejection of the actions of state authorities, and undermine the authority of Belarus in the international arena.”
“Belarusian Investigation Center” is a journalistic organization that specializes in investigations of corruption schemes of top-level Belarusian officials. She is a member of OCCRP (International Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Center) and GIJN (Global Investigative Journalists Network). The latest BRC investigation published at the time of writing is devoted to the corruption of the “fish king” of Belarus, the owner of “Santa Bremor” Alexander Moshensky.
The BRC reported that the court prohibited representatives of the organization from participating in the meeting via video link, which, in their words, “indicates the bias of the judge.” The court refers to the fact that the Czech Republic, where the BRC is registered, allegedly does not have an agreement with Belarus on participation in courts via video link. This, as noted by the BRC, does not correspond to reality.
In response to the court’s decision, the BRC stated that from now on it will release its investigations in the Belarusian language with Russian and English subtitles. The investigators also promised to “increase their momentum.”
“Last year we uncovered corruption schemes in Belarus and abroad worth a billion dollars, this year we will try to increase this figure,” said the head of the BRC Stanislav Ivashkevich.
BRC reminds that in Belarus the use of symbols and paraphernalia of “extremist” organizations faces criminal liability in the form of imprisonment for up to three years.
