Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

July 17, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on July 15 and 16.

Trials

A judge sentenced Dźmitryj Safanovič, a resident of Mikaševičy, Homiel region, to two years’ imprisonment over post-election protests in 2020, Viasna reported.

On June 23, the Barysaŭ District Court, Minsk region, sentenced electrician Michaił Ancipaŭ to one and a half years in prison for destroying four official flags in the town of Łošnica. It was his mother who tipped off the police, Viasna reported.

A judge sentenced Siarhiej Saroka, a resident of Lida in the Hrodna region, to 10 days in jail for reposting undesirable content from a Telegram channel in 2020, Zaderzhaniya, Sudy v Lide reported.

Other incidents

Authorities denied visits to relatives of politician Ryhor Kastusioŭ, who is serving a 10-year sentence in a penal colony in the Brest region. They also seized his personal notes and addresses for correspondence, said Dźmitryj Antončyk, his son-in-law. The chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front has cancer.

Tractor driver Aleh Rubiec is being held in a punishment cell at Prison No. 8 in Žodzina, Minsk region. Sentenced to five and a half years in prison, he spent 40 days in a punishment cell in 2023 and 60 in 2022, Viasna reported.

The Minsk City Court will consider shutting down Sich, a Ukrainian culture center, on July 25, according to an official website. The center has existed for more than 27 years.

As of July 17, human rights defenders identified at least 1,479 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.