Update on trials, criminal proceedings, politically-motivated persecution

September 21, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 20.

Trials

A court in Minsk sentenced protestant pastor Viačasłaŭ Hančarenka to a fine of 3,200 rubels (over $1,260), presumably for holding an “unauthorized meeting” on September 18.

Criminal proceedings

The closed-door trial of BelaPAN journalists was set to resume on September 21 after a break of almost three months due to forensics and participants’ illness. The defendants include BelaPAN CEO and editor in chief Iryna Leŭšyna, former CEO Dźmitryj Navažyłaŭ, former deputy CEO Andrej Alaksandraŭ and his wife Iryna Złobina.

They face the charges of creating an extremist group (Alaksandraŭ, Leŭšyna, Navažyłaŭ), treason (Alaksandraŭ, Zlobina), tax evasion (Alaksandraŭ, Navažyłaŭ), and participating in protests (Alaksandraŭ and Złobina, who paid protesters’ fines). Human rights groups declared all four political prisoners.

The Supreme Court upheld the eight-year prison sentence for prominent journalist Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvałava), amending the charges from disclosure of state secrets to espionage.

Other instances of persecution

The Committee for the State Security (KGB) included eight more Belarusians in its list of persons “involved in terrorist activities.” There are 913 people on the KGB’s “terrorist” list, among them 172 Belarusian nationals.

As of September 8, human rights defenders identified at least 1,343 political prisoners.