September sentences in political cases in numbers
Police vans in Minsk. August 9, 2020. Photo: t.me/Photographers_against
In September the Human Rights Center Viasna observed a continuing trend toward criminal prosecution and conviction of citizens for political reasons.
Viasna human rights defenders are aware of at least 114 citizens convicted in September, of which one-fifth are women and four-fifths are men (23 and 91 accordingly).
Regarding one person outside Belarus, criminal proceedings for insulting the president were terminated due to the expiration of the prosecution terms.
Human rights defenders noted that in September, judges continued to pass custodial or freedom restricting sentences. September sentences in numbers:
- 79 people were sentenced to a total of 412 years of imprisonment
- 7 people were sentenced to a total of 17 years of freedom restriction in an open-type penal facility
- 28 people were sentenced to a total of 76.5 years of freedom restriction under home confinement
- 31 people received fines totaling 332,800 Belarusian rubles (equivalent to 132,000 US dollars) as an additional punishment to imprisonment (30 convicts) or a freedom restriction in an open-type penal facility (1 convict)
In September, the courts handed down custodial sentences in about two-thirds (69.3%) of all cases. 6% of all sentences involved restriction of freedom in open-type penal facilities, while home confinement was ordered in every fourth case (24.56%).
Thus, various types of custodial and freedom-restricting sentences were handed down in all politically motivated cases in September.
