A famous basketball referee, he was arrested for creating a basketball chat.
He was detained in January 2024 when he was returning to Belarus. He is currently in pretrial detention. He is accused of "insulting Lukashenko" and "creating an extremist group" under Articles 361-1 and 368 of the Criminal Code.
Syritsa had previously believed that coming to Belarus was not associated with major risks. His wife was also detained at the border (she spent a day in jail). And the chat participants were summoned for questioning.
Alexander Syritsa has been one of the best basketball referees in Belarus for many years. A FIBA referee since 2005. In 2019, together with his colleagues, Syritsa filed a lawsuit against the basketball federation, lost and was blacklisted. He lived in Australia, did business, and often visited Ukraine.
On January 16, the KGB recognized the "Fund of Belarus Friend LTD" as an "extremist organization" - at that time it was reported that Belarusian citizen Alexander Syritsa was related to it.
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