{"id":11539,"date":"2023-03-06T12:41:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T09:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/viasna-leaders-given-harsh-sentences-as-regime-stamps-out-human-rights\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"viasna-leaders-given-harsh-sentences-as-regime-stamps-out-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11539\/","title":{"rendered":"Viasna leaders given harsh sentences as regime stamps out human rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n The Leninski District Court in Minsk sentenced prominent Belarusian human rights defender Ale\u015b Bialiacki to 10 years in prison on March 3. His associates from Viasna, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d and U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d, were given nine and seven years in prison, respectively.<\/span><\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The prison terms are comparable to those that were given to \u201cenemies of the people\u201d during Joseph Stalin\u2019s terror.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Unlike the Soviet tyrant, Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka tolerated human rights groups for a while. Bialacki, a courageous Belarusian nationalist, seized that opportunity to establish an extensive and effective human rights monitoring network in the country.\n<\/p>\n

Advocacy classified as crime<\/h2>\n

\n\t The harsh sentences have not come as a surprise. The attack on Viasna was fully in line with the government\u2019s policy of reprisals and its promise to hunt down and punish participants in the 2020 protests.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Human rights advocates were not involved in power struggle. They just documented rights abuses and provided aid to victims of political persecution. The regime used the latter activity as a pretext to accuse the Viasna leaders of \u201cfinancing group actions flagrantly violating public order\u201d and \u201csmuggling cash.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka claimed at a news conference on February 16 that Bialacki had worked to destroy the country, evaded taxes and bought estates, apartments and cars with cash donated for human rights activities.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The claim of tax evasion is false because the investigators dropped the charge. The other claims have not been substantiated by any evidence.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The regime does not only punish, but it also seeks to discredit its opponents. It perpetrates the lie that advocacy and goodness do not exist and that those perceived as heroes are just criminals. Probably, many officials serving within the system cannot imagine that someone can work toward noble goals.\n<\/p>\n

Human rights boiled down to job and food<\/h2>\n

\n\t Belarusian officials have challenged the very concept of human rights. \u201cThe persistence with which a certain group of countries imposes on all its view of human rights hierarchy that unconditionally prioritizes the supremacy of individual civil and political rights and liberties is comparable perhaps with the religious fanaticism of the Crusaders or the belief in the supremacy of the Aryan nation,\u201d Juryj Ambrazievi\u010d, a Belarusian deputy foreign minister, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva late last month.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The remark suggests that authorities see those who put human rights ahead of \u201cstate interests\u201d \u2013 in Belarus the notion means that the leader has the right to hold on to power at any cost \u2013 as Nazis. However, many Belarusians will agree that the regime, citing its state interests, has transformed Belarus into a big concentration camp.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Officials are hostile toward the basic notion of human rights and often misinterpret it as merely the right to have a job that pays your bills.\n<\/p>\n

Disregard for constitution<\/h2>\n

\n\t It should be noted that the Constitution, which was rewritten a year ago to serve the needs of personalist dictatorship, declares some rights characteristic of Western democracy. Officials simply ignore its provisions.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cThe state safeguards freedom, inviolability and dignity of an individual,\u201d it proclaims. \u201cNo one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.\u201d The Constitution allegedly guarantees privacy, inviolability of home, freedom of opinions, convictions and free expression, freedom of assembly, the right to elect and be elected to state agencies.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The government has stamped out these rights. In 2020 it crushed peaceful demonstrations for honest elections. People who stood up for their civil rights have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Liking content in social media may land one in prison. Security officers break into homes to arrest people for expressing their views.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Ironically, the Viasna Human Rights Center stood for compliance with the Constitution, which has been flagrantly violated by officials.\n<\/p>\n

Regime hates solidarity<\/h2>\n

\n\t The sentences for Bialacki and his associates are not only about revenge. The regime\u2019s objective is to stoke fear. In 2020 human rights defenders and citizens showed the true power of grass-roots solidarity.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In retaliation, the regime has banned hundreds of nonprofits and mobilized government-established and controlled organizations to serve as a front for civil society.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t However, solidarity has deep roots. The suppressed civil society is not yet dead. It has adopted a tactic of small action and is waiting for a window of opportunity. Viasna has regrouped and continues to operate underground.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Within the limits of his thinking, \u0141uka\u0161enka might be right that advocacy groups works to destroy the country as he sees it. For him, the country means the authoritarian system that treats people as voiceless resources. Human rights defenders keep fighting to change it for the better.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN The Leninski District Court in Minsk sentenced prominent Belarusian human rights defender Ale\u015b Bialiacki to 10 years in prison on March 3. His associates from Viasna, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d and U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d, were given nine and seven years in prison, respectively. The prison terms are comparable to those that were given to \u201cenemies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11539","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nViasna leaders given harsh sentences as regime stamps out human rights | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN The Leninski District Court in Minsk sentenced prominent Belarusian human rights defender Ale\u015b Bialiacki to 10 years in\" \/>\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\/11539\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Viasna leaders given harsh sentences as regime stamps out human 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