Prominent human rights defenders face new criminal charges

September 26, BPN. Aleś Bialacki, the head of the Viasna Human Rights Center, and his associates Valancin Stefanovič and Uładzimir Łabkovič have been charged with smuggling and financing riots, Viasna said in its Telegram channel.

Police arrested them in July 2021 in a tax evasion case. The tax evasion case has been dropped, while the new charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 12 years.

Pavieł Sapiełka, Viasna’s lawyer, described the new case as “ridiculous and cruel,” linking it to Viasna’s financial assistance to the victims of political persecution in Belarus.

Authorities banned Viasna, one of the oldest Belarusian human rights group, back in 2003. It has operated virtually underground and could not account for financial aid as required by Belarus’ restrictive regulations. During protests against fraud in the 2020 presidential election, authorities rewrote laws to criminalize any financial aid to jailed protesters and other victims of political persecution.

Belarus has recently blacklisted Viasna’s website and logo as extremist content.