Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Communications Crime

HAM Radio Operators In Belarus Arrested, Face the Death Penalty (404media.co) 75

Posted by BeauHD from the censorship-resistant dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: The Belarusian government is threatening three HAM radio operators with the death penalty, detained at least seven people, and has accused them of "intercepting state secrets," according to Belarusian state media, independent media outside of Belarus, and the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna. The arrests are an extreme attack on what is most often a wholesome hobby that has a history of being vilified by authoritarian governments in part because the technology is quite censorship resistant.

The detentions were announced last week on Belarusian state TV, which claimed the men were part of a network of more than 50 people participating in the amateur radio hobby and have been accused of both "espionage" and "treason." Authorities there said they seized more than 500 pieces of radio equipment. The men were accused on state TV of using radio to spy on the movement of government planes, though no actual evidence of this has been produced. State TV claimed they were associated with the Belarusian Federation of Radioamateurs and Radiosportsmen (BFRR), a long-running amateur radio club and nonprofit that holds amateur radio competitions, meetups, trainings, and forums. Siarhei Besarab, a Belarusian HAM radio operator, posted a plea for support from others in the r/amateurradio subreddit. "I am writing this because my local community is being systematically liquidated in what I can only describe as a targeted intellectual genocide," Besarab wrote. "I beg you to amplify this signal and help us spread this information. Please show this to any journalist you know, send it to human rights organizations, and share it with your local radio associations."

HAM Radio Operators In Belarus Arrested, Face the Death Penalty More | Reply

HAM Radio Operators In Belarus Arrested, Face the Death Penalty

Comments Filter:

  • Brutal (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Awful to hear, especially as a license holder.

    • Same here, also licensed. How can countries like this exist in this day and age?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by ZombieCatInABox ( 5665338 )

        Look at who's sitting in the oval office right now. Put there by the American People.

        That's how.

      • Re:Brutal (Score:4, Informative)

        by Comboman ( 895500 ) on Wednesday January 21, 2026 @10:39PM (#65941100)

        You must be mistaken. Belarus is ruled by such a great guy that Trump invited him to join his “Board of Peace” for Gaza governance. [forbes.com]

        • Wow, just wow. I have no words.

        • Well, if he can invite Israel's enemies like Qatar and Turkey, what's could be wrong w/ Belarus?

  • Spying? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ukoda ( 537183 ) on Wednesday January 21, 2026 @05:22PM (#65940522) Homepage
    There is probably more to this that the allegations. My guess is they are trying to send a message, maybe that they are big and powerful so don't fuck with them?

    The only difference between equipment access for amateur radio operators and the general public is the freedom to transmit RF signals, which is not usually what you want to do if spying. For spying on radio signals all you need is a SDR receiver, with a KrakenSDR you can even do passive radar tracking of aircraft. However just receiving a signal is not enough to intercept state secrets if they are properly encrypted. Even off the shelf consumer grade P25 radios can't, currently, be cracked if configured and operated correctly.

    Maybe they are worried about the ability to freely communicate outside the countries borders but amateur radio is hardly the best way to do anything controversial these days. It was a great way to communicate 20+ years ago, now it just a fun hobby. The problem is amateur radio is broadcast and unencrypted. If you are doing something suspect you are far better use encrypted communications over TCP/IP and there are plenty of cross border ways to do that without amateur radio.

    • It's about providing the outside world information about the regime's abuses. The 'spying' excuse is just that - a convenient reason to do the arrests.

    • Re:Spying? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Wednesday January 21, 2026 @05:56PM (#65940606)

      Governments can shut down telecoms easily. That’s why ham radio scares them. They can’t control the RF spectrum.

      • Governments can shut down telecoms easily. Thatâ(TM)s why ham radio scares them. They canâ(TM)t control the RF spectrum.

        Control? It depends on how you define that. They can use drones with radio direction finders to blow up you and/or your equipment.

      • They can't control the RF spectrum.

        Control? No, but spark-gap generators placed throughout the country will kill all legible RF transmissions.

    • But it is also entirely possible that they are Making an Example.

      Oppressive states have long-hated Ham operators. The biggest issue is that we can communicate worldwide without asking permission, but they also don't like public-spirited independent-minded technical folks, they can cause a lot of trouble to an aspiring shitbird like Lukashenko or Stephen Miller.

      Hey, speaking of Miller, his family immigrated from Belarus. Since we're all about preserving our culture through expulsion, can someone get one o

    • Probably some mid-level group of regime flunkies saw a bunch of antennas and decided that busting an "espionage ring" would get them promoted up another rung.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Tailhook ( 98486 )

      There is probably more to this that the allegations.

      Why? Is there something unusual about intellectuals in commie hell-holes getting liquidated? Or are you futilely hunting for some comfortable rationalization, because allowing yourself to imagine that such evil might actually exist, and endure, is too disturbing?

      Here is an uncomplicated way to deal with these troubling feelings: understand that if you lived there, you too would get put against the wall. They would find some rationale for why you amount to an Enemy Of The People and liquidate you, just

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ukoda ( 537183 )
        Woo big boy, don't get your knickers in a knot!

        As I saw it there were two possible situations:

        1. They though these guys were actual spying for some unclear reason, and charged them accordingly.
        2. They had some other issue with these guys and charging them with spying was simply a pretext to punish them.

        I believe it is the second case but have no way to prove that, hence my comment "There is probably more to this that the allegations". It sounds like you are reading something else into my comment, h

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Tailhook ( 98486 )

          As I saw it there were two possible

          That is you, peering through the moral relativism glasses you were trained to wear, and blessing Belarus with a benefit of the doubt where none is warranted.

          The third possibility, instinctually omitted from your list, as per your training: It's another tyrannical kleptocracy, LARPing as a workers paradise, busily cleansing itself of anyone with slightly more wit than the average bear. That's why Pol Pot determined that anyone with prescription glasses was a threat: they'd likely spent some time reading t

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by ukoda ( 537183 )
            Maybe I should have said don't get your panties in a bunch?

            Not sure why you would think I will die dreaming of free healthcare when I have had that from since before I was born?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tragedy ( 27079 )

            Going to have to agree with ukoda that you seem to be tying an awful lot of unrelated stuff to their posts. It's a bit offputting how triggered you seem.

  • It's sad (Score:5, Insightful)

    by angryman77 ( 6900384 ) on Wednesday January 21, 2026 @05:24PM (#65940526)
    I used to read these kinds of stories and think things like "I'm glad I don't live in a place where the government can do things like that." By "that," I mean making a public example out of people with zero evidence, and likely zero recourse for the people in question, all to intimidate the population it should be serving.

    Fast forward to today, and that sort of thing has become so blatant and so obvious, that it doesn't always make the news.

    And to top it all off we have the insanely high levels of hypocrisy involved, as Trump was screaming from the rooftops for 4 years how everything was unfair and how the then-current administration was weaponizing every bureau it could against him. You know all that stuff Biden's people gave him a few light slaps on the wrist for for doing obvious and blatantly illegal shit.

    • I used to read these kinds of stories and think things like "I'm glad I don't live in a place where the government can do things like that." By "that," I mean making a public example out of people with zero evidence, and likely zero recourse for the people in question, all to intimidate the population it should be serving.

      Fast forward to today, and that sort of thing has become so blatant and so obvious, that it doesn't always make the news.

      And to top it all off we have the insanely high levels of hypocrisy involved, as Trump was screaming from the rooftops for 4 years how everything was unfair and how the then-current administration was weaponizing every bureau it could against him. You know all that stuff Biden's people gave him a few light slaps on the wrist for for doing obvious and blatantly illegal shit.

      For example, ignoring all the abuses by ICE and DHS, Trump wants to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook "for cause" simply because he (his administration) *said* she (allegedly) misstated something on a mortgage application years before she was appointed to the Federal Reserve (noting that the bank still hasn't complained) - without giving any due process or allowing her to challenge the assertions. At the moment, SCOTUS seems dubious, even the conservative justices, and of the expedited review: Supreme Court app [scotusblog.com]

      • I've followed this and yes it does appear as if the supremes are dubious of his argument. Finally, maybe sanity is starting to creep back. It also bodes well for Powell. What drumpf may have done is enamored the fed to NOT drop rates out of spite. That might be an interesting twist. Not sure when the next real appointment comes up on the fed, but Powell even though his term as chairman is up soon, his term as a governor is not. I think he had planned on retiring, but a nice FU would be to remain and be a go

        • Re:It's sad (Score:4, Interesting)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot@@@worf...net> on Wednesday January 21, 2026 @07:49PM (#65940850)

          If they're being dubious, that's because they likely realize that anything like that could easily be applied the other way. If an official can be arrested for making a mistake on a form, chances are so can any other official for any reason.

          That could easily apply to anyone - including say, the spouses of the judges. Make an innocent error (e.g., check the wrong box) and risk arrest.

          The courts have already set up a huge minefield with their shadow docket with rather thin explanations making it hard to avoid hitting precedent because they failed to explain themselves so you can't go "that was different". It's entirely possible they may write themselves into a corner where they're forced to rule against their own interest because some lawyer creatively applied their own decisions against them. And because those rulings were thin, they have to come up with a reason why they were wrong that time but they don't have anything to explain the initial decision.

          • While applicable to lower courts, precedent doesn't seem to be a thing with this current supreme court. They have routinely ripped it up.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tragedy ( 27079 )

          I would probably put my money on the SCOTUS, at least 5 or 6 members of it, contorting themselves in some way to make it so Trump needs some other excuse for future tariffs, but still finding some way to make it legal for the tariffs collected so far to stand.

    • They simply cannot experience the combination of self-awareness and shame that are associated with hypocrisy..

      If you see a right winger calling out someone else's hypocrisy it's not that they understand what hypocrisy is, it's that they have determined that certain patterns are associated with that word and that if they scream the word their target gets negative attention.

      It's more like what a well-trained dog or a monkey might do. The dog doesn't really understand the meaning of the word it just kn

  • The Authoritarian Glossary (Score:5, Informative)

    by plstubblefield ( 999355 ) on Wednesday January 21, 2026 @05:30PM (#65940540)

    Straight from the dictionary of dictators the world over:

    • treason: noun, enabling the local populace to observe the reality of the rest of the world
    • espionage: noun, enabling the rest of the world to observe the reality of the local populace

  • If you broadcast any national secrets on open radio, unencrypted, it is YOU that are committing the crime, not the people listening to them. You have to be a special type of stupid to broadcast state secrets on open radio and then arrest the people listening to them.

    I could see a charge if he decyrpted a secret code. (but I would laugh at them for making one that easy to decrypt.)

    This is the real problem with dictators. When they do something stupid, they try to arrest other people for their stupidity. S

  • the protesters in Iran don't have access to HAM radio.

    • Well, not the dead ones, of course, if that was the "spirit" of your argument (uggh - bad pun, sorry).

      But as for the living ones, yes, they do have SOME access and ability to use ham (not an acronym so no need to capitalize it) radio gear and frequencies, if they think it will help. Ham radio is also known as amateur radio.

      Baofeng, or similar Cheap Chinese Radios (CCR's) sell for less than $30.00 on Amazon or eBay. You can't believe that none of the protesters have relatives or friends in other countries

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ukoda ( 537183 )
        It is the mesh networks that these types of governments should fear given they open the potential for encrypted and anyonumos communications across a country, and it's borders, even using stock smartphones.
      • I think it was a double entendre on "HAM". Since Iran still has an islamic regime, pork products, such as ham, would be "haram"

  • If you look at the lists of number of arrests for social media posts, Belarus is nearly half of what the UK is doing, which is still an order of magnitude above any other nation.

    It might well be higher on a per-capita basis.

    I don't fully understand the Russian Political Union structure, but it clearly doesn't confer political rights across it. IIRC Russia proper is two or three orders of magnitude lower. I didn't see a breakdown of citizenship of the arrestees, though, so maybe it's a refugee thing, but t

  • "Ham" is not an acronym (Score:5, Informative)

    by porges ( 58715 ) on Wednesday January 21, 2026 @06:48PM (#65940738) Homepage

    It's ham radio, not HAM radio. Not even Ham radio. (Error in the linked article, so not blaming the editors for this one.)

  • HAM... (Score:3)

    by Linux Torvalds ( 647197 ) on Thursday January 22, 2026 @12:59AM (#65941254)

    ... is not an acronym.

Slashdot Top Deals

I took a fish head to the movies and I didn't have to pay. -- Fish Heads, Saturday Night Live, 1977.

Close