Belarus’ security officers arrest photographer on arrival at Minsk airport

Secu­ri­ty offi­cers at Min­sk Inter­na­tion­al Air­port arrest­ed pho­tog­ra­ph­er Ali­ak­san­dr Shyshko, Dis­si­dent­by report­ed.

Pho­tog­ra­ph­er Ali­ak­san­dr Shyshko. Pho­to: Dis­si­dent­by

Ali­ak­san­dr lived in Tbil­isi after 2022. It is dif­fi­cult to say why he returned to Belarus, pos­si­bly missed his home and loved ones,” Raman Kislak, a Tbil­isi-based human rights activist, told Pozirk.

After oppo­si­tion Free­dom Day ral­lies in 2024, Belarus’ pro­pa­gan­da offi­cers men­tioned Shyshko in their reports. “As far as I know, a crim­i­nal case was insti­tut­ed in con­nec­tion with Free­dom Day ral­lies abroad. His apart­ment in Belarus was searched as part of this crim­i­nal case,” Kislak added.

Dis­si­dent­by report­ed that Shyshko was men­tioned by ONT pre­sen­ter Ihar Tur, a key pro­pa­gan­da offi­cer in Belarus’ sys­tem, as a Free­dom Day ral­ly par­tic­i­pant.

Min­sk threat­ened to pros­e­cute all par­tic­i­pants in oppo­si­tion ral­lies abroad.

Secu­ri­ty offi­cers selec­tive­ly inter­ro­gate Belaru­sians and for­eign­ers on arrival at Min­sk Inter­na­tion­al Air­port. Some of those inter­ro­gat­ed are arrest­ed.