BELARUS: Police take relatives’ DNA after KGB declares religious freedom group “extremist”
By Felix Corley
Forum 18 (07.05.2025) – On 1 April the KGB ruled that religious freedom group Christian Vision, its website and social media channels are “extremist” and banned. Police raided the homes of three relatives of Dzmitry Korneyenko, one of the members identified by the KGB, taking DNA samples from two. “When [my brother] asked the police why they needed his DNA, they responded that it made it easier for them to hunt for me,” Korneyenko said. Orsha District Police refused to say why officers visited Korneyenko’s relatives and why they needed DNA samples.
On 1 April, the KGB secret police ruled that Christian Vision, its website and social media channels are “extremist” and are banned. The KGB identified three of its leading members by name. The group documents violations of freedom of religion or belief and other human rights. The Interior Ministry added the group to its list of “extremist” organisations on 8 April. The following day, police visited the home in Orsha of the father of a group member and took his DNA. Two weeks later, the same happened to his brother.
Between August 2023 and March 2024, several courts declared Christian Vision’s social media channels and logo “extremist” (see below).
Anyone who shares, copies or likes material from or provides information to a site deemed “extremist” risks punishment under the Administrative or the Criminal Code (see below).
The three Christian Vision members the KGB identified are Natallia Vasilevich, Natallia Harkovich and Dzmitry Korneyenko. All three, who are Orthodox Christians, are outside Belarus (see below).
Korneyenko said his father was too confused to ask Orsha police why they needed his DNA, but his brother tried to find out. “When he asked the police why they needed his DNA, they responded that it made it easier for them to hunt for me,” Korneyenko told Forum 18 (see below).
The duty officer at Orsha District Police refused to answer any questions as to why officers had visited Korneyenko’s relatives and why they needed to take DNA samples. He referred Forum 18 to its head, Dmitry Borodavko. However, he did not answer his phone (see below).
Korneyenko indicated that visits to his relatives are not unusual. “They visit with varying frequency (sometimes investigators, sometimes police officers), but these days they have slightly expanded their schedule of visits,” he noted. “But taking DNA – that’s something new” (see below).
Korneyenko is also wanted on criminal charges related to non-religious public activity