A leading editor of Russian Wikipedia, who is said to have edited articles about Russia’s war in Ukraine, was reportedly detained in Belarus.
A video posted in a Telegram channel associated with Belarusian security officials appeared to show the arrest of Mark Bernstein, 56. He was accused on the channel of “distributing fake anti-Russian information,” according to Belarusian publication Zerkalo.
Bernstein is regarded as one of the top 50 editors of Russian Wikipedia. According to The Verge, Bernstein was doxxed before the arrest, with the report noting that the pro-Belarusian government Telegram channel has since been made private.
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While it remains to be seen what charges Bernstein might face, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law last week that punishes “fake news” purveyors with up to 15 years in prison. Belarus has not sent forces into Ukraine as part of Russia’s war, but it has been used as a staging ground for Russian forces.
Mark Bernstein, a 56-year-old businessman, has been detained in Minsk. He is known worldwide as the top editor of @Wikipedia.
What did Mark do wrong?”This man is distributing fake anti-Russian materials,”Lukashenko’s security forces claim. #Wikipedia is dangerous for the regime pic.twitter.com/WKeJQgm3uy
— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) March 11, 2022
Hanna Liubakova, whose Twitter account identifies her as a journalist from Minsk, Belarus, and a nonresident Atlantic Council fellow, tweeted that Bernstein is known worldwide and stated that Wikipedia is “dangerous for the regime.”
