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POZIRK+Expelled Belarusians face persecution at home, rights group says
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Belarus prosecutes more than 30 for exposing identities of security officers who mistreated peaceful protesters
June 21, Pozirk. Belarus’ authoritarian government has prosecuted at least 31 people over alleged contributions to a 2020 initiative to expose the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters, said the Viasna Human Rights Center. At least 21 remain behind bars.
Minsk designated the “Черная книга Беларуси” (The Black Book of Belarus) account on the Telegram messenger application as an extremist group in 2022.
Those sentenced to prison included bank employees, IT engineers, former prosecutors and police officers, officials, a lawyer, a forensic expert, a musician and an artist, according to Viasna.
The inmates sentenced in this case are “actually held in isolation even within the prison system” and nearly all have been designated as terrorists, which blocks their access to cash transfers from relatives. Most of them don’t have cash to buy basic stuff at prison stores.
Viasna suspects that most inmates associated with the Black Book of Belarus have been included in a blacklist of individuals ineligible for pardon, noting that only two female prisoners have been pardoned so far.
Some of those suspected of involvement in the project fled the country. Belarusian authorities put them on trial in their absence: Janina Sazanovič, Daniił Bahdanovič, Dźmitryj Navoša, Volha Vysockaja and Valeryja Zaniamonskaja were given 12 years in prison each in January 2023.
At least 159 convicted for donations, Viasna says
June 19, Pozirk. At least 159 individuals have already been convicted in Belarus over money donations for causes designated by authorities as “extremist” and “terrorist,” according to the Viasna Human Rights Center. Among the convicts are 26 IT workers and …
