Supreme Court rejects appeal by campaigners against police brutality

May 12, BPN. The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by administrators of a project against police brutality.

Judge Mikałaj Hryncevič, at a closed-door hearing, upheld lengthy prison sentences against alleged administrators of Chernaya Kniga Belarusi (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported.

Chernaya Kniga Belarusi was launched in 2020 as an online project to expose security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters.

On January 18, the Minsk City Court sentenced Janina Sazanovič, Daniił Bahdanovič, Dźmitryj Navoša, Volha Vysockaja and Valeryja Zaniamonskaja to 12 years in prison each without the defendants being present.

Authorities accused them of inciting hatred and mishandling personal data. The Committee for State Security (KGB) designated all five as terrorists. The defendants fled abroad, but may lose Belarusian citizenship under the new legislation.

Navoša, a prominent media manager, told the BAJ that he had not appealed the verdict.