Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

February 1, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 31.

Arrests and releases

Mahiloŭ police arrested musician Alaksandr Burak on January 26. The man was tried and given 10 days in jail for allegedly distributing opposition content online, MAYDAY.TEAM reported. Burak is recovering from recent surgery.

SMM specialist and wedding planner Anastasija Ivanova is under arrest for allegedly sharing 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, Naša Niva reported.

Police also arrested an IT engineer from Mahiloŭ, a pro-government source said. Authorities suspect him of signing up for the opposition’s Pieramoha Plan and writing critical comments online.

Minsk police arrested Alaksandra Rybčyk on January 27, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. The reasons for her arrest and further details remain unclear.

Authorities released Alaksandr Miłašeŭski after he served out his prison term, Dissidentby reported. He was sentenced to two years in prison for online comments on the 2021 shootout involving an IT engineer and KGB officers, known as the “Zielcer case.” Human rights groups considered him a political prisoner.

Authorities released former history teacher Andrej Piatroŭski after he had served 18 months in prison on charges of slandering Alaksandr Łukašenka.

Trials

A court sentenced cameraman Pavieł Padabied to 15 days in jail for disseminating opposition content, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said. Police arrested him and searched his home on January 20.

Criminal proceedings

The Homiel Regional Court will start hearing a case against Pavel Kupryenko, a Ukrainian, and Dźmitryj Salaviančyk and Taras Mačynski, residents of the Homiel region, on February 14, Viasna reported. Authorities accuse them of spying, high treason and concealing crimes. Earlier, state-run media claimed that they were collecting and transmitting data on the location of railway junctions and military equipment movements.

The Minsk City Court has upheld the guilty verdict against the United Civic Party (UCP) leaders, the UCP press office reported. In early November 2022, UCP Chair Mikałaj Kazłoŭ was given two and a half years in prison; UCP Minsk chapter head Aksana Alaksiejeva, 18 months in prison; a former deputy chair, Antanina Kavalova, one year. Authorities accused them of participating in 2020 protests.

Other instances of persecution

Authorities ruled to extend the pre-trial detention of Hrodna journalist and urban activist Pavieł Mažejka for another month, BAJ said. He remains behind bars since late August 2022, while the reasons for his arrest remain unclear as his lawyer had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Human rights groups consider Mažejka a political prisoner.

The charges against imprisoned journalist Dzianis Ivašyn were disclosed five months after his conviction, his wife Volha Ivašyna said. Authorities convicted him of high treason, illegal collection and distribution of personal data and interference in police work. Ivašyn is currently serving a 13-year prison term. His persecution is widely seen as politically motivated.

Extremist list updates

Authorities blacklisted a number of online communities as extremist, including social media pages of Belarusian railway workers and Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko who supports Belarusian opposition, as well as MOST Media project, pages of journalist Rusłan Kulevič and blogger Andrej Pavuk.

Ukrainian Telekanal Pryamyj YouTube channel and Belsat TV investigation of journalist Pavieł Šaramet’s murder on YouTube were also branded extremist content.

The Committee for State Security (KGB) blacklisted the volkovysk.by community and its social media pages as an extremist group, BPN reported.

As of February 1, human rights defenders identified at least 1,436 political prisoners.