Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

April 15, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on April 14.

Arrested and released

Police arrested Uładzimir Jakubaška, legal adviser for a farm in the Hrodna district, for following opposition Telegram channels, Naša Niva reported.

Hrodna police arrested Andrej Neściarovič, owner of the Cudoŭnia ethnic shop, the Pravo Imeyut Telegram channel reported. The reasons for his arrest remain unclear. Businesswoman and journalist Kaciaryna Šust was briefly detained together with him.

Alesia Šmelava is under arrest for subscribing to opposition Telegram channels and sharing their content, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Authorities also suspect her of administering an opposition channel.

Police arrested about 20 persons in a raid in Pružany, Brest region, the Brest branch of Viasna said. Some were released, while others will be tried for alleged minor offenses.

Authorities released four Połack museum employees after they had spent 15 days in jail for allegedly sharing opposition content, BPN reported.

Trials

A court in the Viciebsk region jailed Jaŭhien Burak for seven days for following an Instagram opposition account, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said.

New criminal cases

Businessman Viktar Łamieka from Zelva, Hrodna region, faces charges of slandering Alaksandr Łukašenka, MAYDAY.TEAM reported. Police also accuse him of sharing opposition content.

More than 10 people are under arrest in Dziaržynsk, Minsk region, and are accused of participating in protests, Viasna said.

Criminal proceedings

The Minsk City Court sentenced Uładzimir Astapčyk, 30, to four years in prison for allegedly administering an opposition Telegram channel, Viasna reported.

Aleh Stasiuk from Pinsk, Brest region, was also given a four-year prison term on several criminal charges including cultivating plants containing narcotic or psychotropic substances and insulting Prosecutor General and other senior officials on the Telegram messaging app. Authorities also fined him 7,400 rubels (over $2,500).

A court in the Brest region sentenced Tamara Karavaj to two years in prison for online comments.

Ihar Sviryda from Brest was given one year in prison for allegedly insulting Łukašenka. Authorities say he failed to pay fines imposed for minor offenses and continued to post negative comments about the Belarusian ruler.

Private school teacher Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ went on trial in Minsk on charges of inciting hatred and insulting Łukašenka online.

Jaŭhien Kavalenka in Barysaŭ, Minsk region, will go on trial on April 26. Authorities blacklisted him as a terrorist and accuse him of participating in protests, inciting hatred and insulting officials.

Jailed Andrej Sciepankoŭ, 42, will stand a new trial in Homiel on the same day. He faces a total of nine criminal charges widely seen as politically motivated. Earlier, authorities had sentenced him to two and a half years in prison for insulting Łukašenka, officials and judges.

Other instances of persecution

The Prosecutor General granted Sofya Sapega’s petition to be extradited to serve her six-year sentence in Russia, RIA Novosti reported. Sapega, a Russian national and an alleged administrator of a Belarusian opposition resource on Telegram, was convicted of inciting hatred and illegal handling of personal data.

Authorities transferred Dźmitryj Łukša, a former anchor at the Belarus 1 TV channel, to a penal colony in Škłoŭ, Mahiloŭ region, where he is to serve a four-year prison term given on charges of participating in protests and discrediting Belarus, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported.

David Antašvili, a reality TV show star in Russia, was jailed for 15 days for allegedly violating the terms of his three-year home confinement, Mediazona reported.

New political prisoners

The Belarusian human rights community labeled 15 more people as political prisoners, Viasna reported. The most common charges against those convicted in politically-motivated cases include participating in protests, calling for sanctions, inciting hatred, promoting extremism, insulting and slandering Łukašenka.

Extremist list updates

The Ministry of Internal Affairs added 21 names to the list of people it says are involved in extremism. The list now has a total of 2,712 entries. It includes three convicted “railway partisans,” sentenced to lengthy prison terms for setting fire to a railway relay cabinet in the Homiel region in late February 2022 as they were trying to slow down Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Extremist content updates

A court in Minsk blacklisted the medal established by the exiled opposition and its digital images as extremist content.

Authorities also blacklisted Euroradio’s Facebook page as well as Polesskaya Vesna, Vitebsk Chernyakhovka, Biełaruś: Padzei, and Biełaruskі Babilon Telegram channels as extremist.

As of April 15, human rights defenders identified at least 1,496 political prisoners.