About 200 Belarusians arrested for negative comments about KGB officer's death

About 200 people have been detained all over the country for making negative comments about the death of a KGB officer in a shootout in a Minsk apartment, BelTA learned from Belarusian Internal Affairs Minister Ivan Kubrakov on 7 October.

The internal affairs minister said: “Some are trying to have fun by hyping about this death. About 200 citizens have been detained so far. They have written all kinds of filth in Telegram channels hoping nobody would find them. They called for taking up arms and taking to the streets. All of them are in prison. Criminal cases have been opened. We are finding out the identities of more and more people. Some of them live in Brest Oblast.”

In his words, the behavior of such “freedom fighters” changes drastically once they are arrested. “In the Internet they write one kind of things: they call for murdering people. Not only law enforcement officers but other citizens with a different opinion. Once they are arrested and face charges, they cry and start remembering their families and friends. I call upon everyone to think in this Year of People's Unity, get united and live peacefully and calmly in our country,” the minister told those present.

Heads of major enterprises and enterprises of Brest, representatives of public associations, the city administration and the administrations of the city's districts, members of the Brest City Council of Deputies, and high-ranking officers of the State Border Committee of Belarus took part in the meeting with the internal affairs minister. The meeting was supposed to deliver true information about the situation in Belarus and the oblast to the population of Brest Oblast.

Ivan Kubrakov went on saying: “Various Telegram channels post a lot of unreliable information, so- called fake news. The news focus on illegal migrants, destructive elements, and the COVID-19 situation. Unfortunately, citizens often trust rumors. This is why I would like to address all the residents of Brest Oblast, heads of enterprises and organizations, members of municipal councils of deputies: deliver the truth to citizens so as not to fall under the influence of those, who are controlled by foreign puppet masters.”

Top officials of the Internal Affairs Ministry and the State Border Committee of Belarus also intend to visit border crossings and border guard stations of the Brest branch of the Belarusian border service.