Update on trials and politically-motivated persecution

January 12, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 11.

Criminal proceedings

The Minsk City Court sentenced Taćciana Kołas, a former municipal employee, to six and a half years in prison, pro-government sources said. Authorities said she shared information with Chernaya Kniga Belarusi (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), an online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters. Authorities also blacklisted her as a terrorist.

Prosecutors requested a four-year prison term for Juryj Kaściuk, currently on trial in Brest on charges of promoting extremism, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Kaściuk allegedly helped political prisoners to contact BySol and By_help initiatives and receive cash payments while serving his first politically-motivated sentence at an open-type correctional facility in 2021. A verdict in his new case is scheduled for January 13.

Extremist list updates

Authorities blacklisted several local Telegram channels and chats, including BelPoznan Naviny + Važnaje and Fanipol Baj. Obsuzhdeniya, as extremist content, Viasna said.

Other instances of persecution

Yekaterina Yanshina, a Russian journalist linked to the Memorial human rights organization, currently serving a 15-day jail term in Minsk, was not allowed to see her lawyer, Memorial’s Telegram channel said. There has been no news from her for six days. Police arrested her for covering the trial of Viasna’s leaders and taking pictures in the courtroom.

Investigative journalist Dzianis Ivašyn fell ill while being in a punishment cell and was transferred to the prison’s “quarantine” ward, a Telegram channel of his followers said. Ivašyn is currently serving a 13-year prison term. His persecution is widely seen as politically motivated.

The Russian social network VKontakte blocked access to a number of pages deemed extremist in Belarus, including the independent media outlets Zerkalo, Mediazona and Belsat TV, as well as Viasna, BPN reported. 

Authorities dropped new charges against Minsk resident Raman Koržyk, sentenced to one year of restricted freedom in home confinement, after the statute of limitations had expired, Viasna said. Authorities intended to charge him with insulting six policemen.

As of January 12, human rights defenders identified at least 1,440 political prisoners.