Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

March 1, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 28.

Several arrested, one released

Police arrested at least six people in Dziaržynsk, Minsk region, following reports of an attack on the Mačuliščy military airfield, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. A court jailed them for two days for allegedly disobeying police orders. All have been released. Human rights defenders say that some of them were beaten in custody.

Police arrested former firefighter Maksim Stašulonak, 32, upon his return to Belarus. Authorities accuse him of participating in protests. In 2020, Stašulonak lost his job after warning residents in a Minsk neighborhood about a police raid.

Homiel police arrested a total of 200 people, including 183 minors, Naša Niva reported. Most of them are linked to Redan, a youth subculture popular in Russia and Ukraine that organizes mass brawls in shopping malls. The juvenile police will deal with those under 16, while older teenagers may be charged with minor offenses. Eyewitnesses said that some of them were subjected to violence during the arrest.

A resident of Svietłahorsk, Homiel region, is under arrest after returning from Russia, the interior ministry said. Authorities arrested him over messages allegedly insulting Belarusian public officials.

Authorities released Jan Rymaroŭ from Žłobin, Homiel region, after he had served two years of a restricted freedom sentence for allegedly insulting a public official, Viasna said.

Trials

Authorities jailed Ihar Šumilaŭ for 15 days for distributing opposition content, Viasna said. He lost his leg in a traffic accident 10 years ago.

Criminal proceedings

A court in Homiel sentenced Kanstancin Łapicki to three years in prison for online comments allegedly inciting hatred and insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka, the Homiel branch of Viasna said.

A court in Pinsk, Brest region, sentenced blogger Mikałaj Klimovič, 61, to one year in prison over a caricature of Łukašenka circulated in social media, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said. He has a disability as a result of a heart condition.

The Minsk City Court will start hearing a case against Irena Klaviec on March 6, Viasna reported. Authorities accuse the former employee of the Minsk cadaster agency of leaking personal data to Chernaya Kniga Belarusi (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), an online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters.

New criminal cases

The Hrodna region’s authorities filed criminal charges against three Belarusians for giving interviews to independent media outlets deemed extremist in Belarus, the Investigative Committee said.

Other instances of persecution

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Busły Laciać activists and upheld their lengthy prison sentences, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported. They were convicted of six crimes, ranging from inciting hatred to participating in terrorist activities.

Authorities summoned imprisoned blogger Ihar Łosik to a court in Baranavičy, Brest region, in a debt recovery case, Radio Svaboda reported. He is currently serving a 15-year prison term in a case widely seen as politically motivated. Łosik and the other five defendants were ordered to pay 22 million rubels ($7.9 million) in damages to the interior ministry. Last summer, authorities put up for sale personal property they had confiscated from the Łosik family.

Authorities will hear Darja Łosik’s appeal on March 21, Viasna reported. In January, the blogger’s wife was given two years in prison for an interview with Belsat TV that authorities deem extremist.

Former political prisoner Ivan Krasoŭski lost a forced deportation lawsuit in Ukraine and must leave the country, he said on Instagram. He fled Belarus after he was handed down a three-year restricted freedom sentence.

The family of imprisoned journalist Dzianis Ivašyn has not been able to contact him in prison since February 8, Haradzienskaja Pravaabarona said. His parents think authorities might have transferred him to a prison in Hrodna. He is currently serving a 13-year term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

New political prisoners 

Belarusian human rights groups declared 12 more people political prisoners, Viasna said. They all were arrested or convicted over protests.

As of March 1, human rights defenders identified at least 1,461 political prisoners.