Rights group reports more arrests as Belarus intensifies crackdown on dissent

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian rights group is reporting dozens more home raids and arrests in the latest intensification of a years-long crackdown on dissent in Belarus. The Viasna human rights center said Thursday that it knows of at least 159 people targeted by searches and detentions in multiple Belarusian cities, including the capital, Minsk. It says those targeted include relatives of jailed dissidents, journalists and others. Leaders of Belarusian opposition have called the wave of arrests, which is the biggest in recent months, “a blow to the solidarity within the country,” According to Viasna, there are 1,419 political prisoners now held in Belarus; many of those detained Thursday and earlier this week have been helping families of those jailed for political reasons.