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Crisis in Belarus

Belarusian Interior Ministry seizes over $300,000 intended for protesters over past month

According to Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakov, analysis of the socio-political situation in Belarus indicates that the population is protesting less than before

Belarusian Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakov Sergei Sheleg/BelTA/TASS

Belarusian Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakov

© Sergei Sheleg/BelTA/TASS

Minsk, May 26. /TASS/. The Belarusian Interior Ministry has seized more than $300,000 earmarked for supporting the protest movement over the past month, Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakov said on Wednesday.

"We are constantly working to identify and bring to justice organizers and coordinators of protests, administrators of destructive Internet resources and other individuals inciting citizens to protests. Sources and channels of funding for this kind of activity, a hidden mechanism for the receipt of funds from the founders of various foundations and centers have been established. A number of criminal cases have been opened, more than $300,000 meant for organizing support for the protest movement has been seized over the past month alone," he said.

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He added that Interior Ministry officers and military servicemen had maintained public order in the country responding to protests. "At present, the situation is under control. At the same time, the number of intentionally false danger alarms has grown this year. Railway stations, airports, shopping and entertainment centers and educational institutions receive false bomb threats. An appropriate response and information verification have been organized in all cases. Our employees act as they would in a real-life situation. Criminal proceedings have been initiated in all cases. We can already say that, as a rule, bomb threat messages are received from outside Belarus," the minister stressed.

According to Kubrakov, analysis of the socio-political situation in Belarus indicates that the population is protesting less than before, with separate pickets, flash mobs and other acts being held. "I must say that more and more signals about these facts come from citizens. This indicates their intolerance to such manifestations. At the same time, situation monitoring shows that, against this background, the attention of foreign coordinators is shifting to preserving the opposition sentiment, consolidating radical elements in the Internet environment and work among social groups, on messengers and social networks," he said.

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