Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

April 24, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus between April 21 and 23.

Arrested and released

Police arrested musician Rusłan Chlebarodaŭ, a pro-government source said. He is known as the author of the song Stop Tarakan, popular during the 2020 protests and critical of Alaksandr Łukašenka.

Połack museum worker Ihar Bortnik remains in custody after spending 13 days in jail, BPN reported.

Viciebsk police arrested Iryna Chadarenka on charges of violating the order of holding mass events, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Michaił Atrachimovič was arrested in Minsk on similar charges.

Minsk police arrested two young men on April 16 for lighting fireworks in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Authorities released Antanina Kavalova, a former deputy head of the United Civic Party (UCP) as well as Uładzimir and Nadzieja Kałač, members of the fantasy-fold band Irdorath, after they had served prison terms given on politically-motivated charges.

Criminal proceedings

Authorities sentenced Andrej Mamojka, a New Life Church community leader, and his wife Viera to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement over protests.

Hienadź Buhłak, a construction worker from Minsk, was given the same term on similar charges on April 4.

Former police officer Aleh Zubovič was given six years in prison for involvement in Chernaya Kniga Belarusi (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), an online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters. The sentence was imposed in December 2022, Viasna said.

The prosecutor requested 10 years in prison for journalist Raman Pratasievič, the state-run media reported. Jan Rudzik and Sciapan Pucila, who are tried in absentia in the same case, may face 19 and 20 years in prison, respectively.

Jailed opposition activist Palina Šarenda-Panasiuk will go on a new trial on May 16 for allegedly disobeying prison authorities, her husband Andrej Šarenda wrote on Facebook. She is currently serving a three-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically-motivated.

Extremist content updates

Authorities backlisted several opposition Telegram channels and social media accounts, including ploshcha_peramen on Instagram and Euroradio accounts on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte.

Other instances of persecution

The information ministry filed a liquidation suit against Źmicier Kołas’ publishing house, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported. The hearing is scheduled for May 2.

Belarusian human rights activists declared 11 more people political prisoners in a joint statement published on April 21. Authorities persecuted them on charges of insulting Łukašenka and public officials.

The justice ministry said on April 22 it had moved to strip five lawyers of their licenses over misconduct and a lack of qualification.

The Minsk City Court upheld the 10-year prison sentence against Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Aleś Bialacki on April 21. It also rejected the appeals by Viasna’s deputy head Valancin Stefanovič and Uładzimir Łabkovič, coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign, who are to serve nine and seven years in prison, respectively.

Uładzimir Bućkaviec, currently serving a three-year prison term for running an opposition VKontakte group, was transferred from prison to an open-type correctional facility.

As of April 24, human rights defenders identified at least 1,495 political prisoners.