Children’s hospice ex-director charged in another criminal case

June 20, BPN. Volha Vialička, former director of children’s hospice in Hrodna, closed by the authorities in August 2021, faces criminal charges for her alleged failure to comply with a court order to shut down her charity, the press office of the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.

Prosecutors say they recorded about 50 transactions amounting to at least 160,000 rubels (about $62,600) on the hospice’s accounts between September 2021 and April 2022. 

In October 2020, Vialička was arrested for taking part in a protest rally in Hrodna. She was sentenced to a fine after spending a day in custody.

A few days later, the State Control Committee raided the hospice on suspicion of tax evasion and confiscated a ventilator. Vialička was later charged with misusing donations. At that time, she was already abroad, so authorities placed her on the list of wanted criminals. In August 2021, the interior ministry reported that Vialička was a suspect in a criminal case for gross violations of public order, a charge that is routinely used by authorities against participants in peaceful post-election protests.