Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

June 8, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 7 as law enforcers continue arresting people for dissent and attaching extremism labels to online content.

Arrested and released

Siarhiej Tatarčuk, a co-founder and head of Druk-S, has been under arrest since June 6, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. The reasons remain unclear.

Security officers arrested a teacher who used the Pahonia coat of arms as an avatar for a school chat, a pro-government source said.

Police arrested Mikita (last name unknown), a minor from Biaroza, Brest region, and accused him of creating a Nazi group, a pro-government source said. His parents will be punished while he may be sent to a boarding school for troubled teens.

Taćciana Pyćko, the wife of jailed cameraman Viačasłaŭ Łazaraŭ from Viciebsk, was arrested on June 6, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported. The children’s hospital took custody of the couple’s toddler daughter.

At least eight people were arrested in Homiel, including Bahdan Dudko and Natalla Kiruščanka, Naša Niva reported. The woman is accused of following opposition content.

On June 6, Alaksandr Łukašenka pardoned Sofia Sapega, a Russian national arrested in Belarus along with an opposition blogger in 2021 and sentenced to six years in prison, BPN reported. On the next day, authorities handed her over to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia’s Primorsky krai.

Authorities released Vadzim Mikałajeŭ and Volha Kukuškina, after they had served their prison terms given in politically-motivated cases, Viasna said.

Viktar Čaraŭko, an associate professor of history at Połack State University, was freed after 15 days in jail for sharing opposition content, BPN reported.

Criminal proceedings

Prosecutors sent their case against jailed journalist Pavieł Padabied to the Minsk City Court accusing him of being a member of an extremist group, the BAJ reported. 

The Hrodna Regional Court rejected Uładzimir Hundar’s appeal against his third criminal sentence given for insulting a prosecutor, BPN reported. The opposition activist with a disability is currently serving a 20-year sentence on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

A judge in Minsk sentenced Mikałaj Vasilevič to six years in prison on charges of financing an extremist group and terrorist activities, Viasna said. In January, the Committee for State Security (KGB) added his name to its terrorist register.

Trials

Human rights defender Aleh Mackievič was given 15 days in jail for sharing opposition content, the MAYDAYMog Telegram channel reported.

Extremist list update

The KGB blacklisted the Rada (Council) of the Belarusian National Republic (BNR) as an extremist group, BPN reported.

On June 5, a judge in Minsk declared the Belarusian-language news website Naša Niva, its logo and its YouTube and TikTok pages extremist content, the information ministry said.

New political prisoners

Belarusian human rights groups added five convicts in a criminal case of the People’s Self-Defense Units (OGSB), an alleged extremist group, to the list of political prisoners, Viasna reported.

Other instances of persecution

On June 1, authorities placed jailed Arciom Łatyšaŭ, sentenced to four and a half years in prison, in a punishment cell at Penal Colony No 2 in Babrujsk, Mahiloŭ region, for the fourth consecutive time, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said.

Authorities sent jailed activist Palina Šarenda-Panasiuk to a psychiatric hospital, Radyjo Svaboda reported. Earlier, she filed an official request to renounce her citizenship in protest against torture in prison. She is currently serving a three-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

As of June 8, human rights defenders identified at least 1,492 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.