Belarus labels German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle ‘extremist,’ bans activities in the country

By YURAS KARMANAU

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The Belarusian service of German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle has been declared an “extremist” organization by Belarusian authorities and its activities are being banned in the country. It means anyone working with Deutsche Welle potentially faces a seven-year prison sentence. Peter Limbourg, Deutsche Welle’s director general, criticized the decision saying “the accusations are unfounded and do not correspond to the real work of our Belarusian editorial office.”