Viasna digest: 29 political prisoners released in September, four of them on pardon

The number of political prisoners in Belarus has been growing steadily for two years now. At the moment 1349 people are recognized as political prisoners, including 44 individuals who were added to the list in September.  At the same time, some have already served their terms and are released from custody, and some are released in the courtroom after being sentenced to freedom restriction. In addition, in September, three political prisoners were released on amnesty, and one more had his sentence changed and transferred to "house arrest". According to human rights defenders, at least 16 people were released in September, and 11 of them fully served their sentences on politically motivated charges. Viasna recalls their cases. 

Thirteen political prisoners were released after having served their full sentences

Darya Chultsova served 24 months

Darya Chultsova served 24 months in jail for her journalism.

Belsat journalists Darya Chultsova and Katsiaryna Andreyeva were convicted for broadcasting a violent police crackdown on a peaceful protest at the “Square of Change” in Minsk on November 15, 2020. On February 18, 2021, Judge Natallia Buhuk of the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. They were found guilty of “disrupting the work of public transport” while covering the protest and convicted of ‘organization of actions that grossly violate public order’ under Article 342 of the Criminal Code. Chultsova was kept behind bars for almost 22 months. The former political prisoner thanked everyone for their support in a video posted on Instagram:

“I'm home for the third day now, and I want to say a great thank you to everyone for writing to me and for not forgetting about me. Thanks to everyone who writes me now. I'm sorry if I can't answer someone, it's really very difficult. I just want to say thank you to all.

I still can't believe what's going on and what's been happening with Katsiaryna (Andreyeva was tried for high treason and received another eight years in jail—ed.). I hope it will all come to an end.

You are incredible people. Just so much support, I didn't think I would ever have that much support in my life. Thank you all so much!”

Iryna Vikkholm served 18 months

Iryna Vikkholm was detained for her tweet commenting on Ryanair plane incident which resulted in the arrest of Raman Pratasevich. On May 23, 2021, Ryanair aircraft, which was carrying Belarusian opposition blogger and activist, was diverted by Belarusian authorities to Minsk National Airport. Vikkholm wrote: "Another crime of Lukashenka: an act of state aviation piracy." On September 20, 2021, Vikkholm was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment in a general-security penal colony, after the Maskoŭski Court in Brest found her guilty of ‘slander against the president’ under Article 367 of the Criminal Code. Vikkholm, a national of Russia, served her sentence in full and was released on September 1, 2022, after which she was immediately deported to Russia. The woman was banned from entering Belarus for 10 years.

Illia Tananka served 18 months

Illia Tananka, 21, is a student at the Minsk State Linguistic University. He was sentenced to 18 months of freedom restriction in an open-type penal facility for insulting police colonel, Minsk riot police chief Dzmitry Balaba.

Tanaka was accused of having written Balaba is Murderer on the wall of an apartment building in Minsk, where the officer lives. The court deemed it a “public insult of the government official in connection with their official duties” (Article 369 of the Criminal Code). The student has been serving his term since May 13, 2021.

On September 8, 2022, the political prisoner was released.

Safiya Malashevich served 24 months

Safiya Malashevich, 18 at the time, spray-painted several drawings and slogans on the metal shields installed on riot-control vehicles during the protest on September 6, 2021, and was arrested. She was immediately charged with ‘organization or participation in group actions that grossly violate the public order’, ‘hooliganism committed by a group of persons’, and ‘insulting the president’ under Articles 342, 339, and 368 of the Criminal Code. The court sentenced her to 24 months years in jail.

Malashevich served her sentence in full and was released on September 6, 2022.

Mikalai Slioz served 12 months

Political prisoner Mikalai Slyoz received 12 months' term for acts that caused $20 in damage.

Mikalai Slyoz, 22, was accused of painting two white-red-white flags on an abandoned construction and painting two trees and a pole with red and white paint. On December 8, 2021, he was sentenced to 12 months of freedom restriction in an open-type penal facility. Before the trial, Slyoz was held in pre-trial detention for almost three months. It is known that the damage caused by the graffiti was estimated at 51 Belarusian rubles ($20).

Slyoz finished serving his term and was released on September 28, 2022.

Viktar Parkhimchyk served 24 months

Viktar Parkhimchyk served his term and was released on September 14, 2022.

Earlier this year, the court changed Parkhimchyk's custody level to imprisonment. He was transferred from an open-type facility to a general-security penal colony for four months. On January 15, 2021, the political prisoner was convicted of ‘hooliganism’ and sentenced to 24 months of freedom restriction under Part 1 of Article 339 of the Criminal Code. According to the prosecution, from November 12 to 16, 2021, he threw 510 self-tapping screws on the roadway near the administrative building of the Border Committee. However, the man did not complete the crime, as the employees of the agency collected the screws from the roadway before any vehicles passed over it.

Pavel Berasniou served 18 months

Pavel Berasniou from Maladziečna was sentenced to 18 months of freedom restriction in an open-type penal facility under Article 369 of the Criminal Code for insulting the head of the Maladziečna Police Department Vadzim Pryhara.

Berasniou served a full term and was released on September 26, 2022.

Kanstantsin Dudzikau served 18 months 

Kanstantsin Dudzikau lost 26 kilograms while serving his term.

Kanstantsin Dudzikau was sentenced to 18 months of restricted freedom in an open-type penal facility under Article 369 of the Criminal Code for ‘insulting a representative of the authorities’. On April 18, 2022, another trial took place. As a result, Dudzikau's custody level was changed to imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony.

On September 24, 2022, Dudzikau finished serving his term and was released. During his imprisonment, he lost 26 kilograms and developed severe dental problems.

Aleh Kulesha served 19 months

Aleh Kulesha, 50, was sentenced to 19 months of imprisonment as part of the “Brest dance protest case”. Kulesha was detained on June 10, 2021, and charged with ‘active participation in actions that grossly violate the public order’ under Article 342 of the Criminal Code. On October 6, 2021, the Maskoŭski District Court of Brest sentenced him to 19 months in a penal colony.

In early February, Aleh sent a letter from jail, in which he revealed that the colony administration had actually forbidden him to speak Belarusian. He was warned that he should speak only Russian in the penitentiary.

Kulesha served his sentence in full and was released in September 2022.

Andrei Charneuski served 12 months

Andrei Charneuski was detained on May 30, 2021.

He was accused of helping a man who removed a red-green flag from a government building in the village of Urečča, Liubań district, on May 29, 2021.

On September 6, 2021, the Liubań City and District Court found Charneuski guilty of ‘desecrating state symbols’ under Article 370 and sentenced him to 12 months of freedom restriction in an open-type penal facility, despite the prosecutor requested a year of home confinement.

Charneuski served his sentence in full and was released on September 30, 2022.

Vital Marukhlenka served 18 months

Vital Marukhlenkawas detained on September 29, 2021, in the Zeltser case. On September 7, 2022, he was convicted of ‘insulting a government official’ and ‘inciting hatred’ under Articles 369 and 130 of the Criminal Code. Judge Aliaksandr Zinchuk of the Navabielicki District Court of Homieĺ sentenced him to18 months of imprisonment and imposed a fine of 3,200 Belarusian rubles ($1,270).

On September 29, 2022, the political prisoner was released.

Mikalai Isayenka served 18 months

Mikalai Isayenka from Žlobin is a teacher of Belarusian and Russian languages and literature; in recent years he has run his own small business. Isayenka was detained on June 2, 2021, as part of a criminal case of ‘group actions grossly violating public order’.

On August 6, 2021, the Žlobin District Court sentenced him to 18 months in a general-security penal colony.

Isayenka finished serving his term and was released on September 23, 2022.

Aliaksandr Kutas served 12 months

Aliaksandr Kutas, a homeless man from Minsk, was detained under Article 342-2 of the Criminal Code for ‘repeated violation of the order of organizing or holding mass events’.

Aliaksandr Kutas served 10 arrests (at least 130 days behind bars) under Article 24.23 of the Administrative Code (‘unauthorized picketing’) in 2021. Protocols were drawn up for his posters, on which the requests for help were written. As far as human rights defenders know, Aliaksandr Kutas spent 22 years in prison.

On March 2, the court of Frunzienski district of Minsk sentenced him to 12 months of imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony.

Kutas was released on September 21, 2022.

Three political prisoners were released on pardon, another one had his sentence changed

Tatsiana Lasitsa spent 20 months in custody

A human rights activist and a volunteer of the Viasna Homieĺ branch Tatsiana Lasitsa was detained on January 21, 2021, at the Minsk airport by officers of the Interior Ministry. On November 3, 2021, the Centraĺny District Court of Homieĺ found Lasitsa guilty of ‘organizing and preparing actions that grossly violated public order’ (Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code) and ‘training and preparing persons to participate in such actions, as well as their financing or other material support’ (Part 2, Article 342 of the Criminal Code). Lasitsa was sentenced to two and a half years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.

On September 24, 2022, Lasitsa was unexpectedly released on pardon. She spent 20 months in custody.

“She was released just a couple of months before the end of her term. In this case, I don't think we should talk about any significant change in how our authorities treat Viasna, human rights defenders, and political dissidents,” commented Lasitsa’s release Aliaksei Kolchyn, a member of Viasna's Board.

Halina Mikhalchuk spent seven months in custody

Halina Mikhalchuk, 70, was released from the penal colony on pardon on September 20, 2022. She was sentenced to two and a half years in a general-security penal colony. She was found guilty of ‘slandering the President’, ‘insulting the President’, and ‘insulting a government official’ under Articles 367, 368, and 369 of the Criminal Code.

It is known that on October 26, 2021, she was sentenced to two years of home confinement under defamatory Article 369 of the Criminal Code ‘insult to a government official’. Prior to the trial, the retired woman was detained for two months (from September 21, 2021, to November 21, 2021): she was initially detained under Article 342 of the Criminal Code. Before retiring, she worked on the railroad.

Aleh Hruzdzilovich spent nine months in custody

Aleh Hruzdzilovich has left Belarus after his unexpected release on pardon.

RFE/RL's Belarus service reporter Aleh Hruzdzilovich was released on pardon on September 21, 2022. It is known that he has left Belarus.

Hruzdzilovich was detained on December 23, 2021. He was taken into custody as a suspect in the criminal case of ‘organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate the public order, or active participation in them’ under Article 342 of the Criminal Code. The prosecution claimed that he had taken part in an unauthorized action while being already stripped of his journalist accreditation by the Foreign Ministry of Belarus. On March 3, 2022, the court of Saviecki district of Minsk sentenced him to 18 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.

Maksim Shatokhin had his sentence changed on pardon

Maksim Shatokhin from Brest was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a criminal case on ‘mass riots’ under Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code which was brought after the post-election protests in Brest. He was a minor at the time.

Shatokhin was serving his term in a juvenile penal colony, and on September 20, he was transferred to home confinement on pardon.

Ema Stsepulionak out of jail to house arrest

A former Belarusian language and literature school teacher from Miory, Ema Stsepulionak, 68, was kept behind bars for almost a year. She was detained on September 29, 2021, for comments on social networks in the Zeltser case and charged with ‘incitement to hatred’ and ‘insult to a government official’ under Articles 130 and 369 of the Criminal Code. During her imprisonment, the woman's health and eyesight deteriorated.

In mid-September 2022 the measure of restraint was changed to house arrest. Stsepulionak is now at home, but the charges have not been dropped, so she remains a political prisoner.

Three political prisoners got non-custodial terms and were released in the courtroom  

Yauhen Batura was released from custody awaiting the commencement of his sentence.

At least three political prisoners were released from pre-trial detention facilities after the trials awaiting the commencement of their sentences of restricted freedom in open-type penal facilities (the number may be an underestimate, as human rights defenders do not yet have all the results of the trials of political prisoners):

Natallia Hancharenka—sentenced to three years;

Dzmitry Dziameshka—sentenced to three years; and

Yauhen Batura—sentenced to two years.

Another eight political prisoners were sentenced to restricted freedom under home confinement and were also released in the courtroom:

Vera Valnistaya—sentenced to three years;

Palina Kabeshava—sentenced to three years;

Stanislau Kabeshau—sentenced to three years;

Aliaksandr Kazakevich—sentenced to two years;

Artsiom Lamanosau—sentenced to three years;

Tatsiana Talochka—sentenced to three years;

Liliya Ananian—sentenced to five years; and

Yuliya Makas—sentenced to three years.