Belarus detains more than 50 at architectural firm in escalating crackdown

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities detained more than 50 employees of an architectural firm in the country’s largest single raid this year, human rights activists said Friday, as part of what they described as a new escalation of repression under President Alexander Lukashenko.

Security forces searched the Minsk offices of ZROBIM Architects on Thursday and detained 52 people on suspicion of disloyalty, including the firm’s founder, Andrei Makouski, according to the Viasna human rights center.

Authorities had demanded the private firm hire a full-time “ideologist” to monitor its staff, the group said. On the eve of his detention, Makouski posted on social media that the studio had received a letter from authorities making the demand.

“The situation in Belarus is deteriorating, and we see that even suspicions of disloyalty are enough to trigger the largest single roundup of creative people this year,” Pavel Sapelka, a lawyer with Viasna, told The Associated Press. “This is a new practice for the authorities: first arresting people, hacking their phones and computers, and only then bringing charges.”

Authorities have increasingly used “extremism” designations to criminalize dissent, with penalties of up to 10 years for associating with groups or individuals labeled extremist. Sapelka said authorities recently designated 22 online chat groups used by prisoners’ relatives as extremist, a move he called “a blow to solidarity within the country” that could expose thousands of families to prosecution.

A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced isolation for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western countries — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Lukashenko’s rule was challenged after a 2020 presidential election, when tens of thousands poured into the streets to protest a vote they viewed as rigged. They were the largest demonstrations since Belarus became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

In an ensuing crackdown, more than 65,000 people were arrested, thousands were beaten, and hundreds of independent media outlets and civil society organizations were shut down. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned. Viasna says 913 political prisoners remain behind bars.

Five years after the mass demonstrations, Lukashenko won a seventh term last year in an election that the opposition called a farce.

Belarus has recently freed some political prisoners to try to win favor with the West. Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, Lukashenko has released hundreds of prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key dissident figures Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Viktar Babaryka and Maria Kolesnikova.

Most recently, Lukashenko last month ordered the release of 250 political prisoners as part of a deal with Washington that lifted some U.S. sanctions, the largest one-time release of political prisoners in the country.

The United States has responded to the releases by lifting sanctions on the Belarusian potash fertilizer industry and the national airline Belavia.

But rights groups say the repression continues. Viasna reported that authorities have begun revoking passports of released political prisoners who have traveled abroad, including Bialiatski, who left Belarus after five years in prison and said his passport was revoked.

“This is yet another form of transnational repression aimed at complicating the lives of deported political prisoners outside the country,” Bialiatski told the AP. “The authorities continue their repression and are trying to ritually sever our ties with Belarus.”

FILE - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko plants young trees during a subbotnik, a Soviet-style Clean-up Day, in the village of Alexandria, Belarus, Saturday, April 17, 2021. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - A protester holds a banner, old Belarusian and Lithuanian national flags during a protest demanding freedom for political prisoners in Belarus near Medininkai, Lithuanian-Belarusian border crossing point east of Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)

FILE - Police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, one of released Belarusian prisoners, smiles surrounded by his supporters as he arrives at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)

FILE - Relatives and friends of arrested participants of the flash mob "Revolution through a social network" wait outside the prison walls to bring food and clothes near a detention centre in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 7, 2011. (AP Photo, File)

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies are bringing in Denver Broncos owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner through a minority investment from the Penner Sports Group.

Rockies chairman & CEO Dick Monfort and owner/general partner Charlie Monfort announced the deal Friday. It's been approved by Major League Baseball.

The Penner group is purchasing approximately a 40% share of the Rockies, a person with knowledge of the situation said. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the figure hasn't been released. The group becomes the largest minority partner for the Rockies, a team Forbes has valued at $1.68 billion.

Dick and Charlie Monfort will continue their roles, with Walker Monfort serving as the team's president. The organization said the investment allows the club to “retire all outstanding debt” in addition to providing an enhanced experience at Coors Field.

“Greg and Carrie have proven that they share the same passion for our region and a strong commitment to compete at the highest level," Dick Monfort said in a statement. "We are thrilled to add them to the Colorado Rockies’ ownership group as we best position this franchise for long-term sustained success.”

The Rockies are off to a 6-7 start this season. They made big changes in the offseason after a third straight year with 100 or more losses. The front office is now led by Paul DePodesta, the president of baseball operations, and general manager Josh Byrnes.

The Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group bought the Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust in August 2022 for a then-record $4.65 billion. Walmart heir Rob Walton also is an owner, while Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, Mellody Hobson and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice serve as limited partners.

Denver made it to the AFC championship game last season before losing 10-7 to the New England Patriots.

“While our focus remains firmly on the Broncos, we look forward to being supportive, long-term partners of the Rockies and Major League Baseball,” the Penners said in a joint statement. “We’ve enjoyed getting to know the Monforts and are grateful to join Dick and Charlie in the Rockies’ ownership group along with the other partners.”

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Denver Broncos owner Greg Penner walks after attending a session at the NFL football annual meetings, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)