The Dzieciuki case: Belarusian militia is tracking extremism on the Internet

The Dzieciuki case: Belarusian militia is tracking extremism on the Internet

photo: www.last.fm

Ales Denisov, the leader of the folk-punk band Dzieciuki, was charged with the dissemination of extremist materials.

On October 15, 2018, the media reported that Ales Denisov, the leader of the folk-punk band Dzieciuki, was charged with the dissemination of extremist materials. The procedure was initiated under article 17.11 part 2 Code on Administrative Offences. According to the militia report, on his Vkontakte page, the musician “stored, with the intention to disseminate, the materials of vk.com/rdbelarus group that were included in the Republican list of extremist materials". It is not clear from the report which exactly repost is meant and when it was made. Denisov himself did not notice any extremist posts on his page.

In the summer of the same year, Denisov was subject to a search that ended in the seizure of his technical equipment. The reason for the search was a charge of libel from a superintendent of one of the dormitories in Grodno that had appeared in one of the video stories made by the journalist.