Update on arrests, trials

September 6, BPN. New cases of political persecution were documented in Belarus on September 5.

Arrests

A 38-year-old Žodzina resident was arrested for posting leaflets and painting “protest” graffiti in the entrance hall of his apartment building. He faces a criminal charge of hooliganism, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Criminal persecution

A 40-year-old resident of the Hrodna region was charged with inciting hatred for administering the “extremist platform 23.34.” According to the investigative Committee, police identified him during an investigation into the case against admins of Chernaya Kniga Belarusi, a Telegram channel that posts personal data of security officers responsible for violence against protesters.

Trials

A district court in Minsk has sentenced Hrodna-based rock musician Ihar Bancar to 15 days in jail for the third consecutive time on charges of disseminating calls to extremism, an anarchist Telegram channel reported.

Hanna Tukava, arrested during her one-woman anti-war protest at a school in Navapołack on September 1, remains in custody, Viasna said.

Taćciana Pečko, head of an NGO helping people with HIV and drug addiction, was fined 3,200 rubels (over $1,240) for violating the order of organizing mass events. According to her friend Uładzimir Pikirenia, the police didn’t like the color of her license plate frame.

Soccer fan Valeryj Haradok from Minsk was jailed for 15 days for an alleged “extremist” tattoo and distributing “Nazi materials,” Viasna reported.

The Minsk Regional Court passed a verdict in a high-profile coup d’état case. Belarusian-born US lawyer Juryj Ziankovič was given 11 years in prison; political scientist Alaksandr Fiaduta and Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) chairman Ryhor Kastusioŭ were given 10 years each. Accountant Volha Hałubovič and a truck driver, Dzianis Kraŭčuk, are to spend two-and-a-half years behind bars. 

Illa Veramiejeŭ, 19, from Homiel, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for messages in Telegram chats. He was accused of attempting to organize mass riots and inciting hatred, human rights defenders said.

Another Homiel resident, Valancin Muzykin, 52, was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting a public official and inciting enmity. Pavieł Hančaryk was given three years on similar changes.

Minsk resident Pavieł Varapaj was given three and a half years in prison for insulting public officials and Alaksandr Łukašenka. IT specialist Viktar Kulinka, 31, was sentenced to three years in prison for sharing pictures of Russian military equipment with a Telegram channel deemed extremist.

Spouses Palina and Stanisłaŭ Kabiešaŭ were sentenced to three years of restricted freedom for participating in the 2020 protests. The couple was released in the courtroom.

The prosecutor requested 15 years in prison for human rights activist Marfa Rabkova, currently a defendant in the “anarchists’ case.” The verdict will be announced on September 6.

The Prosecutor Generals’ Office forwarded to court a criminal case against five defendants accused of forming an illegal civil self-defense unit.

Uladzisłaŭ Rabič, who has a serious disability and moves around in a wheelchair, is to go on trial on September 12 in Baranavičy. According to Viasna, he is accused of insulting Łukašenka.

As of September 6, human rights groups identified at least 1.325 people political prisoners in Belarus.