Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

January 23, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 21 and 22.

Arrests and releases

Minsk police arrested Pavieł Padabied, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. In 2020, he was arrested after a post-election protest rally.

Opposition activist Aleś Masiuk from Słonim, Hrodna region, is under arrest on charges of distributing content deemed extremist. He is currently held in a temporary detention facility pending trial.

The Committee for State Security (KGB) arrested the 15-year-old brother of an administrator of a Telegram channel of railway workers, the channel said. Authorities accused the teenager of extortion and held him in custody for three days. His parents and lawyer were not allowed to see him. Since January 20, he has been held at a mental health facility.

On January 18, police arrested Mikałaj Bańkoŭ, a former university lecturer who lectured future security services officers, Viasna said.

Juryj Ułasiuk, a graduate student in history, was arrested in December 2022 on charges of participating in protests, the Vol’nyj profsojuz BGU Telegram channel reported.

Authorities released David Zbaranski, 17, after he had served his three-year prison sentence in full for participation in 2020 protests in Brest, Viasna said. Human rights groups considered him a political prisoner.

Authorities also released Aleh Mazhoŭ, sentenced to three years of restricted freedom at an open-type correctional facility for participating in protests. Since April 2022, he was transferred to a prison until the end of his sentence.

Criminal persecution

Uładzimir Bułaŭski, an art manager from Viciebsk, faces criminal charges presumably over pictures from 2020 protests posted in social media, the Belarus za MKADom Telegram channel reported. The man has been in police custody since mid-December 2022.

Detention conditions

Authorities transferred Andrej Dźmitryjeŭ, co-chair of the outlawed “Tell the Truth!” movement and a former presidential hopeful, to the detention center on Vaładarskaha Street in Minsk, Viasna reported. 

Rejected appeals

The Minsk City Court upheld the three-year prison sentence for Andrej Asmałoŭski and two-year prison sentences for Artur Smalakoŭ and Dzijana Čarnušyna, Viasna said. In October 2022, authorities convicted the three activists of the United Civic Party (UCP) of participation in 2020 protests.

As of January 23, human rights defenders identified at least 1,439 political prisoners.