Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

July 26, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on July 25 as authorities keep harassing dissenters and cracking down on online protest communities.

Arrested and released

Alaksiej Barsukoŭ and Ihar (last name unknown), railroad workers from Žłobin, Homiel region, are under arrest, the Homiel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Barsukoŭ has been in custody since June and faces criminal charges for online comments.

Authorities released Alaksiej Horbač who had served a prison term for online comments on the 2021 shootout involving an IT engineer and KGB officers, known as the “Zielcer case,” Viasna reported.

Trials

A judge in Navapołack, Viciebsk region, sentenced Siarhiej Krupkin to 15 days in jail for following and allegedly sharing opposition content, Viasna said.

Criminal proceedings

The Minsk City Court sentenced Juryj Adamaŭ to three years in prison on charges of financing extremism, Viasna reported. The co-founder of Pamyłka, a popular science samizdat newsletter, has been under arrest since March for allegedly donating $1,590 to opposition initiatives.

A court in Baranavičy, Brest region, sentenced Ludmiła Sialickaja to two years and six months of restricted freedom in home confinement and a fine for several likes on social media, Viasna reported. Authorities accused her of insulting Alaksandar Łukašenka and officials.

The sentence against Dźmitryj Słuka from Babrujsk, Mahiloŭ region, has come into force, the Prosecutor General’s Office said. A judge sentenced him to eight and a half years in prison and a fine of 11,100 rubels (about $3,700) on charges of financing extremism.

A judge in Žłobin, Homiel region, sentenced Dźmitryj Kiba to two years of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility for taking part in 2020 protests, Viasna reported. The ruling was made on April 10 but human rights defenders learned about it recently.

Extremist content update

A Minsk court blacklisted Plan B, its logo and social media as extremist content, BPN reported. Its founder Volha Łojka, a senior editor at the outlawed news website tut.by, spent nearly a year in prison in Belarus on politically-motivated charges.

Earlier this month, authorities also blacklisted the Instagram page of Novy Čas and several opposition Telegram channels, among them an association of political prisoners’ relatives, Belarusians in Vilnius, and a blog about the Belarusian language.

Other instances of persecution

Jaŭhien Prapolski, currently serving an eight-year-prison term for running opposition Telegram chats, was given additional 18 months in prison for allegedly disobeying prison authorities, Viasna said.

Retired math teacher Valancin Fiedarenka was transferred from the Homiel pre-trial detention center to a penal colony, the Homiel branch of Viasna reported. Authorities sentenced him to for sending 160 sms messages about movements of Russian military equipment to Belsat TV, a Warsaw-based channel deemed extremist in Belarus.

As of July 26, human rights defenders identified at least 1,482 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.