Bloggers, poet released after spending over two years in confinement

December 18, BPN. Authors of the Narodnyy Reporter YouTube channel Siarhiej Piatruchin and Alaksandar Kabanaŭ served their sentences and were released on December 17, Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja’s aide Anatol Labiedźka said on Facebook.

In a separate development on the same day, poet and beekeeper Mikoła Papieka was released from prison after serving his sentence, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Security forces arrested Kabanaŭ on June 15, 2020 in Brest. They came after Piatruchin on the next day near Puchavičy, Minsk region. Both were later charged over the May 29 incident in Hrodna, where blogger Siarhiej Cichanoŭski and other dissidents were detained.

On April 14, 2021 a district court in Mahiloŭ found the duo guilty of organization of/active participation in group actions grossly disturbing public order and insulting a government official. Piatruchin was also convicted of insulting a judge.

Papieka was detained on December 1, 2020 in the Brest region’s Pružany district. He was a suspect in the “round dance case.” On September 13, 2020 protesters had blocked the traffic at an intersection in Brest, singing songs and performing round dances.

On June 8, 2021 the Brest District Court found Papieka guilty of grossly disturbing public order and sentenced him to two years of restricted freedom, a type of home confinement. In April 2022, a judge further limited his freedom by sending him to Mahiloŭ’s Penal Colony No. 15, where he was held until yesterday.

Human rights activists said the persecution of Piatruchin, Kabanaŭ and Papieka was politically motivated.