The State Security Committee ( KGB ) of Belarus introduced the founder of the Telegram channel Nexta Stepan Putilo and the former editor-in-chief of the publication Roman Protasevich to the list of persons involved in terrorist activities. This is stated on the agency’s website .
Being in the list of the creators of the Nexta channel is justified by the charges brought against them under Article 293 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (“Riots”).
The list now contains 726 names. Putilo and Protasevich are the only citizens of Belarus on the KGB list. They are listed after several hundred Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans.
November 16, Belarus appealed to Poland and urged to extradite Putilo as soon as possible and Protasevich “taking into account the public danger of their criminal activities.”
Previously Investigative Committee Belarus opened criminal cases against them. Putilo and Protasevich are accused of organizing riots, as well as actions aimed at “inciting social enmity” against government officials and the country’s security forces.
Both authors of the Internet project are on the interstate wanted list. In late October, the Minsk court recognized extremist materials on the Nexta Telegram channel, which actively covers protests in Belarus that began in August after the presidential elections, and its logo. After that, the project was rebranded and became known as Nehta – Cyrillic instead of Latin.