Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

July 14, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on July 13.

Arrests

Subscribers of a pro-government Telegram channel tipped off law enforcers to arrest a Minsker for a sticker with the Pahonia coat of arms on his license plate. Police reportedly found “extremist content” in his car.

Police in Vaŭkavysk, Hrodna region, detained a man for his online remarks, pro-government Telegram channels say. They report that he criticized “police officers, state officials, other nationalities, as well as soldiers fighting against Nazi elements in Ukraine.”

Trials

The Homiel Regional Court sentenced Śvietłahorsk resident Maksim Drabnica to eight years’ imprisonment for supporting the opposition’s “victory plan,” Homielskaja Praŭda reported.

On July 24, the Minsk City Court will start to consider a case against a former university lecturer, Mikałaj Bańkoŭ. He was arrested in January 2023 and charged with financing “extremism,” Viasna reported.

A prosecutor requested two-and-a-half years in prison for “inciting hatred” for Valer Chamienka, an intensive care doctor from Baranavičy, Brest region, a pro-government source reported. He is charged with justifying Nazism. Chamienka allegedly shared posters with “racial superiority” symbols on a social network.

On July 14, the Supreme Court will consider lawyer Alaksandar Danilevič’s appeal against a sentence imposed behind closed doors. Danilevič was arrested in May 2022 and sentenced to 10 years in a medium security colony for “extremism” and undermining national security in April 2023.

A Dokšycy district court in the Viciebsk region sentenced local resident Viktar Siŭcevič to 10 days in jail for alleged extremist content found on his smartphone, Viasna Viciebsk reported.

Prison conditions

Political prisoner Palina Šarenda-Panasiuk refused to undergo a psychiatric examination and was sent from a mental health institution back to her prison, Viasna reported.

Terrorism list

On July 13, the KGB added nine more people to its list of “terrorists.” Among those added was Kanstancin Załatych, director of a business newspaper who was sentenced to four years in prison for allegedly abusing power, inciting hatred and insulting Alaksandar Łukašenka and a state official. Another was Taćciana Kurylina, who allegedly ran protest chat rooms and was detained after returning to Belarus from abroad. She received a four-and-a-half year sentence for posting information that the authorities deemed harmful.

Authorities removed former political prisoners Raman Pratasievič and Sofya Sapega, who were pardoned by Łukašenka, from the terrorism list, Viasna said.

Other incidents

Andrej Makarevič died at the detention center in Minsk’s Akreścina Street in early June, Novy Čas reported. According to a cellmate, police had detained Makarevič for an alleged theft and then found banned content on his smartphone. He was asthmatic and asking guards for an inhaler, but it was not always given to him. Once he spent 24 hours without the inhaler. In general, the medical care was inadequate and detention conditions were poor.

A pro-government Telegram channel released a video from the apartment of exiled journalist Dzianis Dudzinski, vandalized by law enforcers. They made a mess, broke furniture and dropped an opposition and a Ukrainian flag in the toilet bowl.

Releases

On June 2, authorities freed political prisoner Andrej Ivaniušyn, a biker, Viasna reported. He was arrested in September 2020 near a shopping mall in Minsk and later sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for defending a fellow biker being arrested by plainclothes police officers.

As of July 14, human rights defenders identified at least 1,480 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.