Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

December 16, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 15.

Arrests

Security forces in Minsk arrested prominent athlete Nadzieja Astapčuk, the Strana Dlya Zhizni foundation said. They placed her in a detention center on Akreścina Street in the Belarusian capital. Her supporters were not allowed to pass her a parcel. It is unclear whether she has been charged.

Law enforcers in Žłobin arrested five people suspected of participating in 2020 protests, Naša Niva reported. They are: Maryna Lachnovič, Taćciana Dziemčanka, Vadzim Kirjanaŭ, Nastaśsia Tatarynava and Kirył Kamaroŭ. Criminal cases were opened.

On December 13, police arrested a Category 2 disabled person who had heart surgery and a stroke, Pinsk resident Mikałaj Klimovič, for sharing an anti-war post comparing the Russian president to Hitler. Klimovič was remanded in custody before trial, but as his state deteriorated, an ambulance took him to a clinic. The suspect was released from the hospital on December 14. Charged with disseminating “extremist” content, he would go on trial on December 23.

Police arrested musician and art manager Uładzimir Bułaŭski in Viciebsk. This was his fifth arrest since 2020, Viasna Viciebsk reported. He may be suspected of tax evasion.

The Prosecutor General’s Office reports that prosecutors in Brest sent to jail a 38-year-old man who, “in a state of intoxication,” ripped the official flag off a railway station on the evening of December 10.

Criminal cases

New criminal cases have been opened against political prisoners Uładzimir Hundar, (disabled, lost his leg; 18 years in prison) and Pavieł Rezanovič (19 years in prison), the defendants in the high-profile Aŭtuchovič case, for supposedly insulting a prosecutor during the trial. The report on Rezanovič has not been verified, the Viasna Human Rights Center says.

Trials

Activists learned that on November 29, a judge sentenced husband and wife Viktar and Iryna Arechaŭ to two years of restricted freedom, a type of home confinement. The Minsk residents were accused of participating in a protest march based on a photo on Viktar Arechaŭ’s smartphone. Before the trial, the husband was held in custody, and the wife was released on bail of 8,000 rubels (some $3,200), Viasna reported.

A judge sentenced Mikita Saidaŭ, 19, to two-and-a-half years of restricted freedom for participating in a protest in August 2020 and drug trafficking, Viasna reported.

Prison conditions

Anarchists Mikita Jemialjanaŭ (six years in prison) and Siarhiej Ramanaŭ (20 years in prison), recognized as political prisoners, fear for their lives in Vaŭkavysk’s Correctional Colony No. 11. The administration exerts “great pressure” on them, dissidentby reported. It regularly places them in a punishment cell or an internal prison, and bars them from receiving letters.

Release

Vital Procharaŭ, 19, was freed after serving a two-year sentence in a colony. He had been charged with throwing a stone at a police wagon. Police beat him badly after the arrest, dissidentby reported.

As of December 16, human rights defenders identified at least 1,432 political prisoners.