Amerikanka


The Pre-Trial Detention Centre of the KGB of Belarus is a pre-trial prison in the centre of Minsk, operated by the KGB of Belarus.
The prison is used for detaining persons against whom investigation is being carried out by the KGB of Belarus, in particular, in cases where state interests are involved.

History

The prison firstly operated as the internal prison of the Soviet secret police, the Cheka. It was constructed in the 1920s as part of a complex of buildings used by the Cheka. The informal name Amerikanka is believed to be referring to the prison's form as a Panopticon which was based on the design of prisons in the United States.
The building was later used by the Cheka's successor organizations - the NKVD and the KGB.
In 1946, after end of the Second World War and the restoration of Soviet control over Belarus, the building was reconstructed.

Sanctions against Amerikanka prison staff

Following the crackdown of the protests of the democratic opposition after the allegedly falsified presidential election in 2010, several KGB officers were put on the sanctions list of the European Union. The sanctions have been lifted in 2016 following an improvement of the Belarus–European Union relations.

Victims of Soviet repressions">Soviet repression in Belarus">Soviet repressions

2010 presidential candidates