Politically-motivated arrests, sentences across Belarus

August 24, BPN. Alaksandra Doŭhaja, 40, who is raising a child with disability, has been arrested over a TikTok video in support of Ukraine. She may face criminal charges of inciting hatred.

A life coach and her husband, an IT engineer, were arrested in Minsk. In a video, posted by the pro-government Telegram channels, the couple admitted to participating in the 2020 post-election protests, subscribing to “extremist Telegram channels” and sharing their content.

Three people have been arrested in Fanipal, Minsk region, and charged with gross violations of public order over the 2020 protests.

Photographer Siarhiej Marozaŭ from Hrodna has been fined for subscribing to “extremist materials” in Instagram and released from custody.

Another Hrodna resident, musician Ihar Bancar, has been jailed for another 15 days after serving the same term for distributing extremist materials. Bancar had already served 18 months in prison on politically-motivated charges.

A court in Homiel has sentenced Alaksiej Kačanaŭ, 31, to 16 months in prison for his comments on the 2021 shootout involving an IT engineer and KGB officers, known as the “Zelcer case.” Kačanaŭ, in custody since September 2021, has been released because he has served his term in pre-trial detention.

Taćciana Maciajeŭskaja, 61, has been sentenced to two years of restricted freedom without referral to an open type correctional facility for “liking” Alaksandr Łukašenka’s caricature on the Odnoklassniki social network.

This type of sentence implies that people are confined to their residence during non-working hours and are required to retain or seek employment. Police can visit them anytime to make sure they comply with the terms of confinement.

Raman Karpuk, 18, whom human rights groups declared political prisoner, has been sentenced in Brest to three years in prison for sending 99 letters to members of election commissions, urging them to count votes honestly during the 2022 constitutional referendum.

Criminal cases against Anatol Łatuška, a cousin of opposition politician Paveł Łatuška, Alena Malinoŭskaja, Lilija Ananian, and trade union activist Ihar Lednik have been forwarded to courts.

Viktar Fiančuk, former head of APB BirdLife Belarus, has been transferred to a penal colony in Mahiloŭ after a court rejected his appeal against two and a half years in prison for gross violations of public order.

Sources: Viasna Human Rights Center, AChK-Belarus, Novy Chas and government propaganda accounts on the Telegram messenger application.