{"id":11444,"date":"2022-07-05T13:32:23","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T10:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/at-least-180-belarusians-prosecuted-for-defaming-insulting-lukasenka\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"at-least-180-belarusians-prosecuted-for-defaming-insulting-lukasenka","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11444\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 180 Belarusians prosecuted for defaming, insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Via\u010des\u0142a\u016d Kora\u015bcie\u0144<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t * Reproduction is allowed\n<\/p>\n

\n After the 2020 presidential election, authorities in Belarus have prosecuted at least 181 opponents, sentencing 128 to a total of nearly 300 years in prison for defaming and insulting the country\u2019s authoritarian ruler.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

Six years for defaming \u0141uka\u0161enka<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t The aggregate prison term does not include sentences that 30 persons are serving in open-type correctional facilities, lower-security institutions. Some of the 181 persons are held in custody pending trials, while others have fled abroad.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Article 367 of the Criminal Code carries various types of punishment, from a fine to six years in prison, for defaming Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka. Article 368 provides for punishment ranging from a fine to five years in prison for insulting the Belarusian ruler.\n<\/p>\n

Multiple charges<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Most of those prosecuted under Articles 367 and 368 also faced other charges, and therefore it is impossible to estimate the exact term that was given for defamation and insults.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The longest sentences of seven years were given to Ihar Karpicki and U\u0142adzimir Haroch. Karpicki was also charged with participation in actions grossly violating public order, insulting an official and violence or a threat of violence against an official. Haroch was charged with rioting.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t U\u0142adzimir Mackievi\u010d, a nonprofit leader, was handed down a five-year sentence at a closed-door trial on charges of insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, organizing actions grossly violating public order and forming an extremist group.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Similar complex cases resulted in lengthy prison sentences for Andrej Lubiecki, a prominent oral and maxillofacial surgeon, as well as bloggers Paviel Vinahrada\u016d, Rus\u0142an Linnik, Siarhiej Sakaviec and Vadzim Jarma\u0161uk.\n<\/p>\n

Origins<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Most defamation and insult charges stemmed from online activity.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t People have been prosecuted for using the words \u201cgo away\u201d and \u201cusurper,\u201d while \u015aviatlana Astrynskaja, a resident of Raha\u010do\u016d, was sentenced to one year in prison for posting a frowning face emoji under a critical post about \u0141uka\u0161enka.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Human rights groups reported instances of persecution for a song, a joke or a picture posted in the Telegram messenger application.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Pave\u0142 Bialana\u016d, a rock musician, was charged with insulting the head of state by his tattoo. Ludmi\u0142a Ramanovi\u010d, a resident of Malaryta, was charged for using the word \u201cusurper\u201d in her anti-war letter to the Investigative Committee. Some people were charged over critical remarks they made during phone calls to police.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Zinaida Michniuk, an activist of the Independent Trade Union of Electronic Industry Workers, was tried behind closed doors and given two years in prison based on cellphone surveillance.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Andrej Piatro\u016dski, a teacher in Smarhon with 20 years of experience, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after one of his students reported to authorities that he had shown a video critical of the government to the class.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Performances involving \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s real-size images landed artists in prison for at least three years.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Judges imposed harsh sentences on charges of defamation and insult, rejecting any motions for leniency in connection with personal circumstances such as disability, cancer and underage children.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The Viasna Human Rights Center has registered 181 cases, but the real number must be much higher because some victims are unable to reach out to human rights defenders, while others do not report their cases for fear of repercussions.\n<\/p>\n

Concern about a<\/span>buse of criminal defamation laws<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Various European and international human rights groups have criticized harsh sentences in criminal defamation cases. The criticism is rooted partly in fears that criminal punishment, when compared to civil remedies, carries a greater potential to generate a chilling effect on freedom of expression.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In addition, criminal defamation laws, which involve the exercise of state power and the use of state resources, are particularly prone to abuse in order to silence opponents and critics, said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representative on freedom of the media in a special report published in March 2017.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The UN Human Rights Committee said that all states \u201cshould consider the decriminalization of defamation and, in any case, the application of the criminal law should only be countenanced in the most serious of cases and imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cCriminal defamation is not a justifiable restriction on freedom of expression; all criminal defamation laws should be abolished and replaced, where necessary, with appropriate civil defamation laws,\u201d said the OSCE representative on freedom of the media in 2002.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In 2010, the same organization declared criminal defamation one of the ten key threats to freedom of expression in the coming decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Via\u010des\u0142a\u016d Kora\u015bcie\u0144 * Reproduction is allowed After the 2020 presidential election, authorities in Belarus have prosecuted at least 181 opponents, sentencing 128 to a total of nearly 300 years in prison for defaming and insulting the country\u2019s authoritarian ruler. Six years for defaming \u0141uka\u0161enka The aggregate prison term does not include sentences that 30 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11444","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAt least 180 Belarusians prosecuted for defaming, insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Via\u010des\u0142a\u016d Kora\u015bcie\u0144 * Reproduction is allowed After the 2020 presidential election, authorities in Belarus have prosecuted at least 181 opponents,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11444\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At least 180 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