Belarusian authorities detained 52 employees of the architectural firm ZROBIM Architects in Minsk on Thursday, including its founder, in the country’s largest single raid this year, the Viasna human rights center said. Authorities had demanded the firm hire a full-time “ideologist” to monitor staff. The charges remain unclear.
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Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyCoachella looks like fun and glamour for influencers. Behind the scenes, they fiercely strategizeFor Chinese visa-seekers in the US, the path to good fortune lies in … Chick-fil-A?From 'BuddhaBot' to $1.99 chats with AI Jesus, the faith-based tech boom is hereDemócratas se envalentonan al hablar de destituir a Trump tras sus amenazas a IránIran cites new conditions ahead of peace talks with the US Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyCoachella looks like fun and glamour for influencers. Behind the scenes, they fiercely strategizeFor Chinese visa-seekers in the US, the path to good fortune lies in … Chick-fil-A?From 'BuddhaBot' to $1.99 chats with AI Jesus, the faith-based tech boom is hereDemócratas se envalentonan al hablar de destituir a Trump tras sus amenazas a Irán Iraní-estadounidenses viven con inquietud tras amenazas de Trump a Irán y un frágil alto el fuegoRelatives and friends of arrested participants of the flash mob “Revolution through a social network” wait outside the prison walls to bring food and clothes near a detention centre in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 7, 2011. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, one of released Belarusian prisoners, smiles surrounded by his supporters as he arrives at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. A protester holds a banner, old Belarusian and Lithuanian national flags during a protest demanding freedom for political prisoners in Belarus near Medininkai, Lithuanian-Belarusian border crossing point east of Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko plants young trees during a subbotnik, a Soviet-style Clean-up Day, in the village of Alexandria, Belarus, Saturday, April 17, 2021. Relatives and friends of arrested participants of the flash mob “Revolution through a social network” wait outside the prison walls to bring food and clothes near a detention centre in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 7, 2011. Relatives and friends of arrested participants of the flash mob “Revolution through a social network” wait outside the prison walls to bring food and clothes near a detention centre in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 7, 2011. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, one of released Belarusian prisoners, smiles surrounded by his supporters as he arrives at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, one of released Belarusian prisoners, smiles surrounded by his supporters as he arrives at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. Police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. A protester holds a banner, old Belarusian and Lithuanian national flags during a protest demanding freedom for political prisoners in Belarus near Medininkai, Lithuanian-Belarusian border crossing point east of Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. A protester holds a banner, old Belarusian and Lithuanian national flags during a protest demanding freedom for political prisoners in Belarus near Medininkai, Lithuanian-Belarusian border crossing point east of Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko plants young trees during a subbotnik, a Soviet-style Clean-up Day, in the village of Alexandria, Belarus, Saturday, April 17, 2021. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko plants young trees during a subbotnik, a Soviet-style Clean-up Day, in the village of Alexandria, Belarus, Saturday, April 17, 2021. TALLINN, Estonia — Belarusian authorities detained more than 50 employees of an architectural firm in the country’s largest single raid this year, human rights activists said Friday, as part of what they described as a new escalation of repression under President Alexander Security forces searched the Minsk offices of ZROBIM Architects on Thursday and detained 52 people on suspicion of disloyalty, including the firm’s founder, Andrei Makouski, according to the Viasna human rights center. Authorities had demanded the private firm hire a full-time “ideologist” to monitor its staff, the group said. On the eve of his detention, Makouski posted on social media that the studio had received a letter from authorities making the demand.is deteriorating, and we see that even suspicions of disloyalty are enough to trigger the largest single roundup of creative people this year,” Pavel Sapelka, a lawyer with Viasna, told The Associated Press. “This is a new practice for the authorities: first arresting people, hacking their phones and computers, and only then bringing charges.” Authorities have increasingly used “extremism” designations to criminalize dissent, with penalties of up to 10 years for associating with groups or individuals labeled extremist. Sapelka said authorities recently designated 22 online chat groups used by prisoners’ relatives as extremist, a move he called “a blow to solidarity within the country” that could expose thousands of families to prosecution.repeatedly by Western countriesto protest a vote they viewed as rigged. They were the largest demonstrations since Belarus became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. In an ensuing crackdown, more than 65,000 people were arrested, thousands were beaten, and hundreds of independent media outlets and civil society organizations were shut down. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned. Viasna says 913 political prisoners remain behind bars. Belarus has recently freed some political prisoners to try to win favor with the West. Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, Lukashenko has released hundreds of prisoners, includingas part of a deal with Washington that lifted some U.S. sanctions, the largest one-time release of political prisoners in the country. The United States has responded to the releases by lifting sanctions on the Belarusian potash fertilizer industry and the national airline Belavia. But rights groups say the repression continues. Viasna reported that authorities have begun revoking passports of released political prisoners who have traveled abroad, including“This is yet another form of transnational repression aimed at complicating the lives of deported political prisoners outside the country,” Bialiatski told the AP. “The authorities continue their repression and are trying to ritually sever our ties with Belarus.”Karmanau is an Associated Press journalist covering Belarus and the CIS countries. He has worked in Belarus and Ukraine, as well as other countries in the region, for more than 20 years. He is part of the team that covers the Russia-Ukraine war.
Alexander Lukashenko General News Belarus Minsk Sanctions And Embargoes World News Human Rights Maria Kolesnikova Donald Trump Elections Pavel Sapelka Prisons Government And Politics Andrei Makouski Belarus Government World News Politics
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