In September, at least 170 people were convicted in criminal political cases
In September, the courts of Belarus continued to pass sentences against citizens for political reasons. In September, according to preliminary data, 170 people were convicted, 46 of whom were women and 124 men. Viasna traditionally reports the specifics of the criminal prosecution last month.
61 people were convicted in Minsk in September
The prosecution in different regions in September looks as follows:
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Minsk — 61 people;
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Brest region — 44 people;
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Homieĺ region — 20 people;
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Minsk region — 25 people;
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Mahilioŭ region — eight people;
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Viciebsk region — nine people;
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Hrodna region — three people.
Persecution of families
In September, the persecution of entire families or groups of relatives continued under the Article 342 of the Criminal Code. In Dziaržynsk, the cases against Iryna and Andrei Shaikouski, as well as Aliaksandr and Tatsiana Hryshkevich, were heard. The case of Aliaksei and Liudmila Paulovich was heard in the Maskoŭski District Court of Minsk. In the Leninski District Court of Brest, spouses Henadz and Hanna Vasiliuk were sentenced to two and one years of imprisonment, respectively. The Leninski District Court of Mahilioŭ sentenced Leu Iuchyn to two years of restriction of freedom without referral to a correctional facility, whose father, Valer Iuchyn, three months earlier, was sentenced to two and a half years of restriction of freedom with referral to an open-type correctional facility by the same court.
In September, 12 people were convicted again
In September, the trend of repeated conviction of citizens previously persecuted for political reasons continued. The Viciebsk Regional Court, in conjunction with the previous sentence, sentenced the leader of the independent trade union Naftan, Volha Brytsikava, to six years of imprisonment under articles on "calls for sanctions", "incitement to hatred", and "assistance to extremist activities". Earlier, she was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by the same court under the article on incitement to hatred.
The Leninski District Court of Brest sentenced Henadz Vasiliuk under Article 342 of the Criminal Code to a total of two years of imprisonment. In February of this year, the man was convicted by the Maskoŭski District Court of Brest under the article on "slander against Lukashenka." The Homeĺ Regional Court handled the case against Leanid Kozyr under articles on "financing the activities of an extremist formation" and "participation in an armed formation on the territory of a foreign state." Two years ago, the man was convicted by the Tsentraĺny District Court of Minsk under the article on insulting a representative of the authorities.
The Peršamajski District Court of Minsk sentenced Zmitser Dashkevich to one year and three months of imprisonment on charges of participating in group actions grossly violating public order and disobeying the requirements of the correctional facility administration. Over the past two years, the defender of Kurapaty (an area of NKVD executions on the outskirts of Minsk) has faced several criminal cases under each of these articles in the Maskoŭski and Peršamajski district courts of Minsk, as well as in the Barysaŭ District Court.
Yury Averkau, convicted in June of this year by the Kiraŭ District Court under the article on insulting a representative of the authorities, was repeatedly prosecuted in the Mahilioŭ Regional Court under articles on "incitement to hatred" and "mass riots".
In September alone, eight cases of conviction of previously persecuted citizens under Article 411, which stipulates the possibility of extending a sentence for "disobeying the requirements of the administration of a penal colony." In addition to Zmitser Dashkevich, who was tried under this article, the following people were also tried:
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Aleh Yafremenka and Apanas Afanasenkau in the Barysaŭ District Court;
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Uladzimir Tsyhanovich in the Mazyr District Court;
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Raman Marusau in the Leninski District Court of Mahilioŭ;
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Andrei Budai in the Court of Babrujsk District and the Babrujsk City.
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Siarhei Ramanau was sentenced to two years of imprisonment by the Horki District Court;
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Tamaz Pipiya was sentenced by the Navapolack Court to one and a half years of imprisonment.
46% of the accused were prosecuted under Article 342 of the Criminal Code
The majority of politically motivated criminal prosecutions are based on criminal cases under Article 342 of the Criminal Code. 46% of the people who were subjected to repression in September had been accused under this article.
At the same time, the way this article is used has regional differences — in Brest, the Brest region, and Biaroza, under this article, courts mainly try groups of people. At the same time, in Pinsk, the citizens are prosecuted individually — seven people were convicted in this city in September alone.
In August, at least 60 people were convicted under criminal articles for political reasons
