Update on arrests, trials, detention conditions

September 17, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 16.

Arrests

The owner of the Moulin Rouge restaurant and club in Minsk, Azerbaijani diaspora activist Bachšy Hanbaraŭ, was arrested for participating in 2020 protests, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Alaksandr Pracharenka, an occupational safety engineer, was arrested in Homiel on suspicion of inciting hatred and insulting a judge, Viasna reported.

Reprisals have been reported against Belarusian Free Trade Union members at the National Academy of Sciences. On September 5, police arrested Alaksandr Kandraciuk, a researcher with the Institute of Genetics and Cytology. He was later sentenced to 13 days in jail and charged with inciting hatred. On September 14-15, security officers raided the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Genetics and Cytology to arrest its employee Jaŭhien Sysalacin. The officers also recorded a video of an interrogation of his colleague, the trade union reported.

On the evening of September 16, police in Mazyr arrested human rights activist Uładzimir Cielapun. Earlier, police officers filed four reports, accusing him of disseminating extremist content. On September 3, a local judge sentenced Cielapun to 10 days in jail, Viasna reported.

Criminal charges

Homiel journalist Jaŭhien Mierkis was charged with facilitating extremist activities. Police was arrested him on September 13, and searched his apartment, as well as the apartments of his father, a cardiologist, and a friend, Viasna reported.

Trials

Dźmitryj Siemčanka, a former head of Alaksandr Łukašenka’s press pool, was sentenced to 15 days in jail, and his wife Julija Siemčanka was fined 960 rubels (some $380), the Otrazheniye blog reported.

The editor in chief of the privately-owned Bobruyskiy Kuryer website, Anatol Sanacienka, was placed in jail for 15 days. It is unclear what offense he was charged with, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported.

A district judge sentenced Andrej Iljenia, a correspondent with sports newspaper Pressball, to 10 days in jail on September 14, according to sports blogger Mikałaj Ivanoŭ. The editorial office told BPN he might have been prosecuted for his social media posts.

Priest Uładzisłaŭ Bahamolnikaŭ, who had served a litany for killed activist Raman Bandarenka and held a hunger strike in solidarity with political prisoner Ihar Łosik, was given another 15-day jail term. He was arrested on August 31 and sentenced to two weeks in jail the following day, Chryścijanskaja Vizija reported.

Siarhiej Kanavałaŭ, 50, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a fine of 9,600 rubels, Viasna reported. He was found guilty of terrorism and incitement to hatred. Kanavałaŭ, an employee with the Belarusian Railways, was arrested on March 6 for allegedly “preparing an act of terrorism.” According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he planned to disable railway traffic safety systems. Human rights activists say that he was suspected of planning an act of sabotage in an attempt to delay trains transporting weapons for Russian troops in Ukraine. On July 7, the KGB added Kanavałaŭ to the list of persons “involved in terrorist activities.”

Former BPF Youth activist Arsienij Dziadok was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom with referral to an open-type correctional facility, Viasna reported. Dziadok, arrested on April 20, was charged with taking part in five unauthorized protests after the 2020 presidential election. Offenders sentenced to this kind of punishment live in barracks and are required to find a job in the location. They are allowed to leave the facility for work only. The court ordered Dziadok to report to the facility and freed him.

Prison conditions

Arciom Sakaŭ was transferred to an internal prison for four months “for violating the internal regulations” of a penal colony in Škłoŭ, Mahiloŭ region, according to Viasna. The former member of Siarhiej Cichanoŭski’s presidential campaign team had been sentenced to 16 years in prison on December 14, 2021.

Other instances of persecution

The KGB added 15 names to the list of people it links to terrorist activities, Viasna reported. Of them, 10 were declared political prisoners by human rights groups. There are 905 people on the list, mostly Belarusian nationals.

A district court in Viciebsk declared historian Anatol Taras’ “A Short Course in the History of Belarus. 9th-21st Centuries” an extremist book, Viasna reported.

Police searched the home of the mother of Kastuś Šytal, a journalist and historian who had left the country. Šytal said the police officers were looking for him.

At least five searches have taken place in the homes of regional journalists in the last three days, BAJ reported. Some have been summoned to the police.

As of September 16, human rights defenders identified at least 1,335 political prisoners.