Find out: 'preventive talk' or interrogation? At an interrogation you may have a lawyer.
Say as little as possible: 'yes', 'no', 'I don't know'.
Don't name people, chats or contacts of those who left.
Who helps (3) ↓Every organisation on this page has a designation: read the note on its card before writing.
Draft: not yet checked by a lawyerThe guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.
Draft What human rights defenders advise
Summoned by the KGB or police for a 'talk'
First find out what it is: a 'preventive talk' or an interrogation. At an interrogation you have a procedural status, and the law provides for the right to a lawyer.
Viasna's lawyers advise saying as little as possible ('yes', 'no', 'I don't know') and not being drawn into a 'friendly' conversation.
Don't name people, chats or contacts of those who left. Expect your phone and Telegram to be inspected or photographed.
Sign the record of the talk only after reading it in full; you can state your disagreement with its wording in writing.
Discuss an offer to 'cooperate' with human rights defenders at once, but contact them from a device that is not checked. Note that contact with an 'extremist formation' from inside Belarus can in itself become grounds for a case. If you signed a non-disclosure pledge, discuss it with a lawyer once you are abroad. The recruitment attempt can later support an asylum claim.
Designations of organisations in this guide: Viasna Human Rights Centre (extremist in Belarus). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
Help with lawyers and advice on detention, according to their cards, come from: Viasna Human Rights Centre. Their contacts, with a warning first, are in the “Who helps” list above.