Update on arrests, trials, detention conditions

September 18, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 17.

Arrests

The Viasna Human Rights Center reported that police arrested on August 22 Volha Mankievič, 37, at a train station in Baranavičy, Brest region, upon her return from Andorra. She is accused of insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka.

Trials

A prosecutor demanded six years in prison for Anatol Łatuška, a cousin of one of the leaders of the democratic forces Pavieł Łatuška. The case, widely believed to be politically motivated, has two other defendants: Lilija Ananian and Alena Malinoŭskaja. For Ananian, the prosecutor requested three years of restricted freedom, a type of home confinement. For Malinoŭskaja, four years in prison. They are charged with five criminal offenses in total. The verdict will be handed down on September 20 by a district court in Minsk, Viasna reported.

Prison conditions

The wife of journalist Dzianis Ivašyn, sentenced to 13 years and 1 month in prison, said on Facebook that his letters have not been getting through for 26 days.

As of September 17, human rights defenders identified at least 1,335 political prisoners.