Over 5,300 people convicted of protesting since 2020 – Viasna

July 15, Pozirk. At least 5,361 people have been convicted of violent disorder in Belarus since 2020, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.
Authorities use this criminal charge for reprisals against peaceful protesters. The first such sentence after the 2020 presidential election was issued on November 30. On average, six Belarusians are tried on violent disorder charges every working day, the group estimated.
According to Viasna lawyer Śviatłana Hałaŭniova, the charge as it is applied is a clear component of wide-scale, systematic reprisals against civil society.
Under international law, the deprivation of freedom for peaceful protests, be it an arrest or a jail term, is always a human rights violation, she noted. “A person may not be arrested and especially charged with a crime for participating in a peaceful protest,” Hałaŭniova said.
She pointed out that authorities continue to persecute and intimidate participants in the 2020 protests for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and disagreeing with the “illegal retention of power” by Alaksandar Łukašenka.

Over 140 politically-motivated sentences in June – Viasna
- EconomyBelarus sees industrial dip, retail surge in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsAmnesty demands immediate disclosure of Statkievič’s whereaboutsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsTatarynovič elected as deputy chairman of upper houseThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyLower house moves to criminalize unauthorized drone possessionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityBelarus’ chief investigator, China’s public security minister discuss cooperationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka denies Belarus’ involvement in drone incursions into PolandThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SecurityZapad-2025: soldiers trained to fight drones, armed groups, storm settlementsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Politics
- Politics
- Politics
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka slams Warsaw for closing Belarus borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsFreed Belarusian Greens leader wants to cooperate with Lithuanian politiciansThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: released dissidents share stories of ill-treatment in prisonsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsLithuanian Seimas speaker pledges support for Belarusian oppositionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Politics, Security
- Politics, SecurityLatvian lawmakers say no need for immediate border closureThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityDrone "neutralized" in Warsaw, Belarusians detainedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, SocietyStadler trains taken from Minsk region routes for repairsThe material is available only to POZIRK+