Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

April 5, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on April 4.

Arrested and released

Minsk police arrested university lecturer Aksana Ułanovič for allegedly contacting an opposition Telegram chatbot, Naša Niva reported. 

The agents of the Committee for State Security (KGB) arrested a group of first-year students of the Branavičy State University in the Brest region, a Telegram channel monitoring politically-motivated persecution in Hrodna and the Hrodna region said. Authorities did not disclose the charges against students but the arrest is linked to their comments about Alaksandr Łukašenka’s “open lecture” on September 1, 2022.

Authorities released Anžalika Borys (Andżelika Borys), the leader of the unofficial Union of Poles in Belarus, from house arrest and dropped the criminal charge of inciting hatred “due to the lack of evidence,” Belsat reported.

New criminal cases

Authorities filed criminal charges over protests against those arrested during a large police raid in Dziaržysnk, Minsk region, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. They did not disclose the names of the arrested.

Criminal proceedings

A court in Mahiloŭ sentenced Uładzisłaŭ Papoŭ, 20, to two years in prison for sharing pictures and videos of a military airfield in Babrujsk and Russian military equipment with an opposition Telegram channel, Viasna reported.

Śviatłana Byčkoŭskaja, a former public official, will go on trial at the Minsk City Court on April 20. Authorities accuse her of 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.

In October 2022, authorities sentenced Volha Sałamienik and Uładzimir Tryfanaŭ to seven and a half and 14 years in prison, respectively, on charges of high treason and illegal actions with firearms. No other details of the case are known as the trial was held behind closed doors. Both defendants may be linked to the case of former KGB officer Alaksiej Chrałovič, who leaked data to opposition channels in 2020 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Other instances of persecution

The Partyzanski District Court of Minsk will hear the complaint against the arrest of journalist Pavieł Padabied on April 5, the court’s schedule says. He has been in custody since January 20 and faces criminal charges of promoting extremism.

Extremist content updates

Authorities blacklisted several opposition social media pages, local Telegram channels from Słonim, Hrodna region, Barysaŭ, Minsk region, as well as a music video by Sumarok band and the personal page of journalist Zoja Chruckaja on VKontakte.

As of April 5, human rights defenders identified at least 1,471 political prisoners.