Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

October 3, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus between September 30 and October 2.

Arrested and released

Riot police arrested a man in Homiel for allegedly writing insulting comments about Alaksandar Łukašenka, public officials and police officers, a pro-government Telegram channel said. 

On September 28, police arrested seven men working for a public utilities company in Lida, Hrodna region, over the government-critical online comments, a Telegram channel monitoring politically-motivated persecution in Lida reported. Earlier, the company fired four employees.

Several staff members of another Lida-based company were arrested for sharing opposition content, the same channel said.

A man is under arrest in Salihorsk, Minsk region, for allegedly contacting Belarusian volunteers fighting Russia in Ukraine, Mediazona reported.

Authorities released Jaŭhien Charjanaŭ and Mikałaj Zavadski after both had served two-year prison sentences passed in connection with the protests, the Svobodny Zhlobin Telegram channel reported.

Trials

A judge in Barysaŭ, Minsk region, jailed poet Uładzimir Tałkač, 70, for 10 days over pictures on his smartphone, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

On September 15, a judge in Biešankovičy, Viciebsk region, fined Mikałaj Bondar 740 rubels (over $220) for allegedly deviating from a religious procession route approved by the local government.

Criminal proceedings

Opposition activist Palina Šarenda-Panasiuk who is currently serving a three-year prison term went on a new trial in Rečyca, Homiel region, on charges of disobeying the prison administration, the Homiel branch of Viasna said.  At the trial, she complained of being beaten in prison.

On August 3, a judge in Minsk sentenced Siarhiej Kačuk to five years of restricted freedom in home confinement and fined him 7,400 rubels ($2,240) for online comments allegedly insulting police officers that he had posed between August 2020 and February 2022, Viasna reported.

Other instances of persecution

Authorities transferred jailed journalist Łarysa Ščyrakova to Homel’s Penal Colony No 4 where she is to serve her three-and-a-half-year prison sentence, the Homiel branch of Viasna said. She was convicted of extremism-related offenses.

The Investigative Committee reported that a new special-procedure case was opened against Vadzim Prakopjeŭ, co-founder of the Belarusian volunteer regiment Pahonia and former restaurateur, for his alleged involvement in “terrorist activities.” In June 2023, authorities had already sentenced Prakopjeŭ to 25 years in prison in an arson case, without the defendant being present.

Jailed anarchist activist Dźmitryj Rezanovič, sentenced to 19 years in prison, was transferred to the penal colony’s internal prison, the Pravo na Vosstaniye Telegram channel reported.

The Prosecutor General’s Office filed a total of seven criminal charges against the leaders and members of the Rada of the Belarusian National Republic (BNR), Belarus’ oldest government in exile, Pozirk reported. Charges range from discrediting the state to conspiracy to seize the state power.

Jailed Alaksiej Iljinčyk, sentenced to two and a half years in prison on charges widely seen as politically motivated, was hospitalized, Viasna said. He suffered a stroke before the trial. His right arm hardly moves and he has speech impairment.

As of October 3, human rights defenders identified at least 1,490 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.