Update on trials, politically-motivated persecution

June 22, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 21 with lengthy prison sentences handed down in connection with an alleged arson attack on a pro-Łukašenka MP’s home.

Criminal proceedings

The Minsk City Court sentenced Vadzim Prakopjeŭ, an exiled opposition activist and co-founder of the Belarusian volunteer regiment Pahonia fighting Russia in Ukraine, to 25 years in prison without the defendant being present, the state-run media reported.

The prosecutor accused him of complicity in an alleged arson attack on MP Aleh Hajdukievič’s home. He was supposed to answer 17 criminal charges including terrorism and plotting to seize state power. Other defendants in the case were also given lengthy prison terms ranging from three and a half to 21 years.

Other instances of persecution

Belarusian authorities filed criminal charges against Warsaw-based activist Alaksandr Zarembiuk, BPN reported. Investigators suspect him of leading a Belarusian volunteer unit fighting Russia in Ukraine.

People arrested in 2020 faced beatings, torture and inhuman treatment at Minsk’s Saviecki District Police Department as the government cracked down on post-election protests, the International Committee for Investigation of Torture in Belarus said.

Authorities transferred Andrej Pačobut (Andrzej Poczobut), a jailed journalist and Polish minority activist, to Penal Colony No 1 in Navapołack, Viciebsk region, to serve his eight-year prison term, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported

Libereco, a Swiss-German human rights group, condemned the lengthy prison sentence handed down to Belarusian human rights defender Anastasija Łojka on June 20.

New political prisoners

Belarusian human rights groups declared 12 people political prisoners, stating that security forces use anti-extremism laws to curb the rights to association and freedom of expression.

As of June 22, human rights defenders identified at least 1,501 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.