Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

June 29, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 28.

Arrests

Law enforcers in Hrodna arrested Dźmitryj Kavalonak, sports director of the Neman soccer club, formerly a famous striker, for following “extremist” social media accounts and joining “illegal” marches, pro-government media said.

Three days before, a man tore down an official flag hanging from a dormitory in Hrodna and threw it away, Sudy, Zaderzhaniya. Grodno i Oblast reported. The man was arrested and charged with the desecration of state symbols.

Trials

On June 19, the Lida district court sentenced Pružany resident Siarhiej Kiemiež to two years in prison and a fine for “insulting a serviceman,” Viasna Brest reported. He had served a sentence at an open-type correctional facility for insulting a riot police commander and was freed in March. Authorities put him on the “list of extremists” in September 2022.

Cameraman Pavieł Padabied went on trial in the Minsk City Court on June 28 for “membership in an extremist group.” He has spent more than six months in detention, Viasna said.

A district court in Minsk sentenced Vadzim Miakińnik to two months and one day in a medium security prison for desecration of state symbols, Viasna reported. The ruling was made on March 23, but activists have only learned about it now.

On June 23, the Barysaŭ district court considered the case against Michaił Ancipaŭ, also charged with desecrating state symbols, Viasna said. The human rights group said it does not know the outcome of the trial.

Prosecutor Alaksandr Karol requested 10 years in a medium security colony for Eduard Babaryka, the son of a former presidential hopeful. The sentence is to be passed on July 5, Viasna wrote.

The Viciebsk Regional Court upheld the 30-day jail sentence for Vierchniadźvinsk’s activist Valancina Bołbat, which she received for reposting “extremist” information and violating the procedure for holding mass events, according to Viasna.

Extremism lists

The Minsk prosecutor’s office said that the Połk Kalinoŭskaha Instagram account was declared extremist.

Other incidents

Authorities restricted access to five Ukrainian news websites – glavred.info, spektr.press, hromadske.ua, news.online.ua, and tribuna.com.ua – that supposedly posted “extremist” information encouraging Belarusians to resist the government amid the short-lived Wagner Group mutiny in Russia, according to the Prosecutor General’s office.

As of June 29, human rights defenders identified at least 1,496 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.