Belarusian Students' Association

The Belarusian Students' Association (Belarusian: Задзіночанне Беларускіх Студэнтаў, Zadzninochannie Belaruskikh Studentau; BSA) is the oldest youth organization of independent Belarus with the self-proclaimed goal of "consolidation of the Belarusian student movement for the revival of the principles of democracy, legality and fulfillment of human rights and freedoms in Belarus"[4] The BSA emerged as an anti-communist youth organization in the late 1980s and united democratic student groups in a single union.

The circulation of these outlets was restricted to 299 copies to avoid the need to register with the State Press Committee.

[6] After the election of Alexander Lukashenko as president, the BSA organized a series of protest actions, including for the increase of scholarships and material well-being of students.

For example, in 2005−2006, the association became the initiator of the "We want to learn in Belarusian" campaign demanding the creation of Belarusian-language programs in universities.

[9] Among those who were repressed was also Alana Gebremariam, representative of ex-presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for youth and students.

They were suspected of committing a crime under Article 342 of the Criminal Code ("Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them").

The Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, PEN Belarus and the Viasna Human Rights Centre called the detentions baseless and politically motivated and demanded the immediate release of the BSA activists.

[11] By decision of the KGB of September 21, 2023, the Association was included in the list of “extremist groups”.