Prominent regime critic tried behind closed doors

February 7, BPN. The Minsk Regional Court has started hearing a criminal case against prominent linguist Natalla Dulina, an outspoken critic of the government, in a closed-door session, the court schedule says.

Investigators accused the former Minsk State Linguistic University associate professor of facilitating extremism and participating in protests.

Dulina had served several 15-day jail terms in 2022. She has been held in custody since October 2022 after authorities filed the criminal charges against her.

The interior ministry’s Telegram channel posted a video where she admits under duress to participating in protests and giving an interview to Euroradio, a Poland-based Belarusian-language radio station that authorities branded extremist.

Police also accused Dulina of blocking traffic in 2020 and signing up for the opposition’s Pieramoha Plan.

She has consistently spoken out against violence and supported student protests against voter fraud and police brutality.

During a strike in 2020, Dulina appealed to students via Telegram with a statement from faculty members advocating for change in the country. The university fired Dulina after the strike.

One of Belarus’ leading experts in the Italian language, Dulina was also a member of the opposition’s Coordinating Council for Political Crisis Settlement labeled by authorities an extremist group.