Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

December 14, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 12 and 13.

Arrests

Authorities have not released human rights defender Anastasija Łojka after her third consecutive 15-day jail term expired, Human Constanta reported. Her whereabouts remain unknown.

Police arrested Anatol Puhač in Baranavičy, Brest region, after he had returned from Poland for medical treatment, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Andrej Kazialecki is under arrest in Słonim, Hrodna region, for online comments, pro-government Telegram channels said.

Police also arrested at least 15 people in Brasłaŭ, Viciebsk region, on December 7, Viasna reported.

Criminal persecution

Authorities accused Łarysa Ščyrakova, a former journalist based in Homiel, of discrediting Belarus, BPN reported. She stopped working as a journalist in 2021 and was into ethnographic photography in the last few months before her arrest on December 6.

Criminal proceedings

A court sentenced Vital Korsak from Baranavičy to two years in prison for insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka and state symbols, Viasna said.

On December 12, the Minsk City Court started hearing a case against alleged administrators of Chernaya Kniga Belarusi (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), pro-government sources reported. The project exposed the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters. Dźmitryj Navoša, Janina Sazanovič, Valeryja Zaniamonskaja, Daniił Bahdanovič, and Volha Vysockaja are tried in absentia in so-called special proceedings targeting activists who live abroad and evade contact with investigators.

The Minsk Region Court sentenced Alaksandr Birula and his wife Taćciana to six years in prison each, Siarhiej Pasiuk, to five years and a half; Aleh Haŭryłaŭ, to ten years for publishing and distributing samizdat. Human rights groups consider them political prisoners. 

Alaksandr Adaščyk from Minsk was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom in home confinement for participating in protests, Viasna said.

Detention conditions

Andrej Raptunovič, currently serving four years in prison, was transferred to a detention center in Viciebsk pending his appeal, Viasna said.

The administration also transferred Hienadź Smirnoŭ, serving a sentence of two years and six months at a penal colony in Škłoŭ, Mahiloŭ region, to the colony’s internal prison.

Anton Stašeŭski, who volunteered for the opposition Strana Dlia Zhizni Foundation, was transferred to Penal Colony No 15 in Mahiloŭ to serve his eight-year prison term on charges of conspiracy to seize power.

Content branded extremist

Authorities blacklisted a local VKontakte group from Žłobin, Homiel region, as extremist content.

Other instances of persecution

Ihar Kazmerčak, the human rights defender and editor of Orsha.eu news website who left Belarus, is now wanted in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for insulting Łukašenka, Viasna said.

Police are investigating over 200 Belarusians who left the country on suspicion of their involvement in Paspalitaje Rušeńnie (Eng.: mass call-up) opposition defense initiative, the interior ministry said. Opposition security chief Valer Sachaščyk set it up in September to protect Belarus’ independence.

Information ministry blocked access to Patreon.com, an online platform offering content creators to set up subscriptions and get paid for their work, Naša Niva reported.

As of December 14, human rights defenders identified at least 1,435 political prisoners.