MOST website and social media pages of its editor-in-chief declared “extremist formations”
19 May 2023
MOST Media and its social media pages, as well as other projects and personal social media accounts of Hrodna journalist Ruslan Kulevich, have been declared “extremist formations” by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus.
“MOST has always been transparent. Any reader can visit our editorial offices. Such boldness can only anger the regime, which has been trying to intimidate and destroy all manifestations of freedom and solidarity throughout its existence. Nothing has changed for us, we continue to work and develop MOST, as a bridge that will be used to cross to a democratic Belarus,” the editorial board commented on the news of its inclusion in the list of extremist formations.
Ruslan Kulevich is a veteran “extremist”. In January 2023, his social media accounts were declared extremist. The content published on the MOST Media website and its social media pages was recognized as extremist twice: in May 2022 and April 2023 by two different courts.
MOST promotes itself as a Bialystok-based regional media outlet for Belarusians on both sides of the border. MOST’s editorial board is a team of Belarusian journalists in forced exile, led by Ruslan Kulevich. The site covers news and events in Belarus and Poland, with a focus on Bialystok and Hrodna; life on the Belarusian-Polish border: people, history, culture, tourism and business; and border incidents. “Our mission is to unite the Belarusians of Bialystok and to remain an information bridge between Belarus and Poland,” the website says.
Over the past two weeks, law enforcement officials in Hrodno have detained dozens of people for following social media pages that authorities have labeled extremist. Importantly, following social media pages of “extremist formations” is a criminal offense in Belarus.
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