Supreme Court shortens activists’ lengthy sentences by three months

March 1, BPN. The Supreme Court has reduced the lengthy prison sentences of four opposition activists, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Judge Alaksiej Rybakoŭ ordered the terms of human rights defenders Marfa Rabkova and Andrej Čapiuk and activists Alaksandr Franckievič and Akichira Hajeŭski-Chanada by three months, but rejected appeals by the other defendants in the case.

In September 2022, the Minsk City Court sentenced Rabkova, Viasna volunteers’ coordinator, to 15 years in prison, and Andrej Čapiuk, a volunteer, to six years.

The judge handed down 17 years on Franckievič, 16 years on Hajeŭski-Chanada, 12 years on Alaksiej Hałaŭko, six years on Pavieł Špietny, Mikita Draniec and Alaksandr Kaźlanka, and five years on Andrej Marač and Daniła Čul.

The activists were tried behind closed doors on charges widely seen as politically motivated, ranging from setting up an extremist organization to rioting.

Rabkova has been in custody since her arrest in September 2020. The Investigative Committee said she and two others headed “a number of organized crime groups that had independently-led cells in Belarus’ regions.”