Couple released after over 100 days in dire conditions

Anastasiya Krupenich-Kandratsiyeva and her husband Siarhei Krupenich were released on November 5, after spending nearly four months in a detention facility in Minsk. The couple left Belarus shortly after release.

On November 5, Anastasiya and Siarhei stood their ninth trial and were sentenced to 15 more days each under Art. 19.11 of the Administrative Code for exchanging private messages that contained “extremist” content.

The new court ruling ordered to extend their detention to a total of 126 and 127 days, respectively. However, both were released a few hours later without explanation.

The couple served their imprisonment in the infamous detention facility in Akrestsin Street, known for systemic use of torture and ill-treatment of arrested protesters. For some time, Anastasiya was kept together with 15 other detainees in a cell designed for two people.

Representatives of the Belarusian human rights community called the couple political prisoners after their seventh trial.

Nearly 100 days in prison: Husband and wife convicted for seventh time over “extremist content” in private messages

On October 11, Siarhei Krupenich and Anastasiya Krupenich-Kandratsiyeva, a young couple in Minsk, were sentenced to 15 and 14 days of “administrative imprisonment” for exchanging “extremist content” in a private conversation on the Telegram messaging app.