Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

July 28, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on July 27 with new instances of pressure on jailed activists and harassment of dissenters.

Arrests

Police arrested a man who allegedly left 2,000 online comments in opposition chats, pro-government sources said.

Authorities made the first arrest following the release of Mikałaj Maminaŭ’s film about the 2020 protests on Delfi‘s YouTube channel, pro-government sources said.

Art student Maksim Vasiljeŭ is under arrest in Minsk for allegedly sharing opposition content, pro-government sources said.

Homiel police arrested anesthesiologist Siarhiej Kryž on unknown charges, the Belye Khalaty (White Coats) initiative reported. Sources say that he might have been jailed for 15 days.

Activists found out that the arrest of Brest urologist Aleh Zykun was linked to a database of security officers’ personal data that he kept on his work computer, Belye Khalaty reported. Police initially arrested him for allegedly donating money to opposition initiatives.

Trials

A judge in Dokšycy, Viciebsk region, sentenced driver Valeryj Šylko to 40 hours of community service and confiscated his smartphone for opposition content on his social media, the Viciebsk branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Criminal proceedings

Authorities transferred jailed journalist Dzianis Ivašyn from a penal colony to a prison in Žodzina, Minsk region, without informing his lawyers, his wife said. The reasons for the transfer remain unclear.

Kanstancin Stupnikaŭ was given two years in prison for allegedly insulting Alaksandar Łukašenka, Viasna said. A judge in Viciebsk passed the verdict on June 21.

The Homiel Regional Court sentenced Viktar Załatareŭski to two and a half years in prison on extremism charges in connection with the February attack on a Russian military aircraft at an airfield near Minsk, MAYDAY.TEAM reported.

Journalist Łarysa Ščyrakova went on trial at the same court. She is charged with discrediting Belarus and facilitating extremism for allegedly collecting and storing information for Viasna and the Poland-based Belsat TV channel. The judge closed the trial to the public, BPN reported.

New criminal cases

Journalist Ihar Karniej was transferred to a pre-trial detention center after serving a 10-day jail term, his daughter said on Facebook. Authorities did not disclose the charges against him.

Other instances of persecution

There has been no news about jailed opposition politician Mikałaj Statkievič for 168 days, his wife Maryna Adamovič wrote on Facebook.

Jailed opposition activist Źmicier Daškievič has been kept in a punishment cell since his transfer to the Žodzina pre-trial detention center, his wife said on Facebook. He is reportedly facing new criminal charges for disobeying orders of prison authorities.

The Supreme Court ruled to shut down the Belarusian Greens Party, BPN reported.

Andrej Pačobut (Andrzej Poczobut), a jailed journalist and Polish minority activist, is in a punishment cell, his lawyers are not allowed to see him and he does not receive necessary medicines, Narodnaja Vola reported.

Belarusian authorities have significantly expanded illegal actions and stepped up propaganda, allowing more Russian influence and Kremlin-sponsored narratives, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee said in its recent report.

As of July 28, human rights defenders identified at least 1,481 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.