Neighborhood chat admin sentenced to three years of house arrest
Lidziya Korshun. Screenshot from a clip made by the police
On July 7, a moderator of the "Žodzina for Life" group Lidziya Korshun was convicted by the Žodzina Court. The woman was charged under part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code for organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, as well as under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (contempt of an official).
Lidziya was detained on 27 March 2021 at home, where she was with her one-and-a-half-year-old child. Before the trial, she was kept in a pretrial detention facility.
It is alleged that she coordinated "the neighborhood protest movement in the town, called for active actions, while she herself always stayed at home." According to the Department of Internal Affairs, she also posted insults against police officers in a group that collected the wrongdoings of the police and officials. Thus, on 3 November 2020, she left a message containing a negative assessment of the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus in connection with the performance of her official duties. This insult contained abusive language.
At the hearing, the defendant pleaded guilty in full and was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom (an equivalent of house arrest).
The Belarusian human rights community recognized Lidziya Korshun as a political prisoner.
