Affiliated media: Telegram-channel "Chat Vitebsk, I’m Out Walking" , Telegram-channel

Incident date: March 18, 2025

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Hrodna

Additional information:

The Leninsky District Court of Hrodna has declared the Telegram group titled “CHAT Vitebsk, I’m Out Walking!” (identifier: t.me/vitebsk_info_chat) to be extremist informational material. The resource’s logo and any visual material containing the text “CHAT Vitebsk, I’m Out Walking!” have also been banned from distribution. This Telegram chat is one of the online resources of a project of the same name aimed at covering events in the region, including political and economic developments. On the basis of the court ruling, the Ministry of Information of Belarus added the online resource to the “Republican List of Extremist Materials”. Under Belarusian law, the distribution and storage of materials recognised as extremist entail administrative liability for both publishers and users.