"Threats are made right on the spot." EHU student on searches and advice for those in Belarus

European Humanities University. Photo: ehuniversity.lt

Security forces are trying to find a connection to EHU

Artur Baran says that although security forces visited his friends, he himself was not affected. However, all people currently or formerly associated with EHU are at risk. Especially current students, who just a few years ago, during the active phase of protests or at the beginning of the full-scale war, were teenagers and did not participate in anything at all.

"What happened now: people who were 13-14 years old in 2020 were suddenly told: if you study at EHU, you are extremists and terrorists, you can be prosecuted under criminal articles.

At the same time, people are poorly informed, and it feels like they don't always understand what's happening. For example, when someone writes a confession, they don't think that they can actually change their status from a witness to a suspect," says the interviewee.

During searches, security forces look for documents confirming ties to EHU, tuition payment receipts. This is a problem because people don't always remember what old documents they might have at home. Some don't even imagine that a receipt forgotten during a previous trip home could lead to bad consequences.

So, yes, occasionally they find some receipts, sometimes university agreements in messenger messages between parents and children.

They then talk about some financing [of an extremist organization], finding out if it existed. They ask how tuition was paid, and there were even cases when security forces themselves fabricated payments — for example, they'd say a transaction was made from a foreign bank card, "we know about it, tell us more." And sometimes, parents don't even know about the existence of such a bank. Of course, the KGB tries to make a person incriminate themselves."

They even come for graduates

Based on the cases that have occurred and are known to human rights defenders, Artur notes that in cases where a student is abroad and the search takes place at their parents' home, "everything usually goes better" than, for example, if it's an extramural student who faces the security forces themselves.

"For relatives, the search proceeds quite peacefully. For the students themselves, things are often harsher: threats are made right on the spot and all sorts of things happen. Also, in these cases, security forces often call children from their parents' phones, provoking and initiating negotiations," says the interviewee.

According to him, the KGB is also looking for those who have already left the institution — former students are asked for a certificate of expulsion, and often they are also asked to come to Belarus. They also even come for those who graduated from the institution earlier.

"In my opinion, graduates are one of the most vulnerable groups: they don't appear on radars, it's hard to get information about them. We know they are asked for their diploma."

Students are dissatisfied with the administration's reaction and support

How do students generally feel during these months? Some fall into a stupor and don't know what to do, says Artur. Some try to transfer to another institution, although this, as the interviewee notes, "does not free them from "responsibility"." Someone tries to abstract themselves from the situation and switch off. The young man himself notes that some students are dissatisfied with the university administration's behavior.

"Some believe that the resignation of the top management is necessary. Generally, there is such fragmentation among students, and everything is worsened by the lack of centralized instructions specifically from the administration, and not from the volunteer service," he explains.

— "This is especially felt in the first, critical 72 hours, when a person has tunnel vision, trying to save themselves or help relatives, not realizing they might only make things worse. And during this time, students help other students, Viasna service volunteers are actively working... But at the first meeting after EHU was recognized as an extremist organization, the rector, regarding my proposal that we are ready to cooperate in legal consultations, cybersecurity, and want to discuss legalization issues, replied that he would not cooperate. Students also did not receive answers to their questions." Of course, when this happens and there is no centralized anti-crisis management, the situation worsens."

According to the student and human rights volunteer, the university has a support service, but it is ineffective. The young man believes that the rectorate should have established cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the migration service to protect the youth and the staff, and that there was time for this.

"The lawsuit was filed in September, and the court made its decision in March — how could an anti-crisis plan not have been developed during this time? There is some hotline, but so far I've only heard negative reviews, and it's impossible to consult hundreds of students individually. General instructions are something like "observe digital hygiene rules." How to observe them? It's not stated. How to behave during a search? — also not.

This is a management failure because there was at least half a year to establish contact with human rights defenders and other relevant NGOs and to develop instructions. And, speaking of the first threats, they were present even when I enrolled, in 2023 — that's more than 4 years ago."

Youth organize mutual aid and offer advice in case of pressure

What would really help? Those who haven't been visited yet can prepare for possible searches — review belongings in their apartment and make sure there are no documents, receipts related to EHU. Check phones, correspondence that might contain relevant files or photos.

"They might label things as "extremism," so it's better to destroy such papers to make it impossible to establish a connection with the university. Security forces put a lot of pressure on "financing," let me remind you — they even fabricate transactions. Therefore, the fact of financing must be denied.

If they find something on you, the situation worsens, but I would still advise to remain silent even then, because the way operatives frame questions will always lead to a dead end, to a situation where you incriminate yourself," says the Viasna volunteer.

A separate instruction is for those Belarusians who have accounts in foreign banks and used them for tuition payments at EHU.

"Then you need to change the email and phone numbers linked to the account to the contacts of a person who is abroad. For example, if you are a parent — transfer everything completely to your son or daughter, so that security forces cannot recover this data from your hands. Of course, you need to log out of the account, delete the app, and — an important point — reset the phone to factory settings, because security forces can understand from the device history that you had such banking."

As for the students themselves, the aspiring human rights defender advises them not to fall for provocations by security forces if they try to make contact.

"If someone calls from an unknown number, or if security forces call from parents' accounts, or if the parents themselves speak differently than usual — hang up. They will try to provoke your emotions.

Engaging in conversation is very dangerous, as you can make a lot of thoughtless decisions. Next — we wait for the visit to the parents to end, but remember the most important thing: do not go to Belarus. Because if you go, and also bring a certificate that you studied at EHU — there, your connection to it is proven."

Even if a person is not recognized as a suspect, there's no good news here. As Artur Baran notes, there are known cases where a victim is first misled with the status of a witness, and then tricks are used during interrogations.

"A person is given a decision to involve them as a witness, an interrogation is conducted, during which the witness signs a pledge that they are informed about giving false testimony. Manipulations like "tell us about your role in the organization, about other participants" occur. The person thinks: I am a witness, there's nothing to fear. They start talking, but then they are reclassified as a suspect, interrogated, and it begins: "Here's the interrogation protocol of you as a witness, why did you say one thing then, and something else now?

Therefore, one cannot fall for these tricks. In general, I would establish a basic rule: do not trust the police (menty). You have completely different goals from them, and they tell you things to achieve their own goals, which harm you. If you are asked to send a certificate — rebel, even if you quarrel with your parents, but do not send it.

It's up to you, of course, but it's better not to hand over documents that would prove your connection to EHU. As for relatives — if they are pressured and try to persuade their son or daughter to return, "because we'll all be jailed," you can even stop contact for a while, to allow time to pass, to look at the situation more soberly and avoid making mistakes," says Artur.

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