News on the topic: criminal prosecution
15.06.2020 Andrei Novikau called eighth political prisoner in Tsikhanouski case
Representatives of the country’s leading human rights organizations, including Viasna, have named Andrei Novikau, volunteer of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s nomination team, another political prisoner after on June 12 he faced official charges of “disturbing public order” during an election picket on May 29 in Hrodna.
10.06.2020 HRDs insist on immediate release of all activists charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code
Statement by the human rights community of Belarus on the criminal charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski and six other participants in the May 29 picket in Hrodna
09.06.2020 Siarhei Tsikhanouski and supporters face formal charges
Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a known vlogger and campaign chief of his wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s nomination group, has been officially charged under Part 1, Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (organizing group actions that grossly violate public order and are associated with obvious disobedience to the lawful demands of the authorities or have caused disruption of the activities of public transport, enterprises, institutions or organizations, or active participation in such actions in the absence of signs of a more serious crime).
01.06.2020 Release Siarhei Tsikhanouski!
We, representatives of Belarusian human rights organizations, call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately release Siarhei Tsikhanouski and stop his criminal prosecution.
19.05.2020 Political prisoner Pilip Shaurou walks free after mild sentence
The court of the Centraĺny district of Minsk has sentenced Pilip Shaurou, activist of the Young Front opposition group earlier called a political prisoner by Belarusian human rights defenders, to a fine of 1,350 rubles, finding him guilty of criminal vandalism and property damage.
07.05.2020 Political prisoner Pilip Shaurou released pending trial set for May 18
Pilip Shaurou, activist of the Young Front opposition group facing criminal vandalism charges, has been released from pre-trial detention to await trial. The hearing is scheduled for May 18.
16.04.2020 Human rights defenders call to release political prisoner Pilip Shaurou
Statement by the human rights community of Belarus
27.03.2020 Appeal hearing halves sentence for anarchists Yemialiyanau and Komar
The Minsk City Court has commuted the 7-year prison sentence earlier imposed on anarchists Mikita Yemialiyanau and Ivan Komar. The new terms are 4 years for Yemialiyanau and 3 ½ years for Komar, the appeal court concluded.
25.03.2020 Why are convicted anarchists Yemialyianau and Komar Belarus’s new political prisoners?
On March 27, the Minsk City Court is expected to hear appeals in the case of convicted anarchists Mikita Yemialyianau and Ivan Komar. If upheld, their sentences will become final and the two activists will be sent to serve 7 years in prison. The Human Rights Center “Viasna” analyzed the sentences delivered on February 12 and offers a detailed explanation of why Yemialyianau and Komar are Belarus’s new political prisoners.
18.03.2020 Opposition activist facing 6 years in prison on vandalism charges
Pilip Shaurou, an activist of the Young Front opposition group, has faced formal charges, according to his wife Volha.
03.03.2020 YouTube vlogger charged with assault of police officer over abusive comment
Volha Zhurauskaya, a Viciebsk-based blogger running a YouTube channel called “Shooting is Allowed”, has been charged with assault of an official (Art. 369 of the Criminal Code).
14.02.2020 HRDs demand prompt retrial for convicted political prisoners
On February 12, 2020, the Court of the Saviecki district of Minsk sentenced anarchists Mikita Yemialiyanau and Ivan Komar to seven years in prison each for damage to public property (Art. 341 of the Criminal Code), attempted intentional damage to property and intentional damage to property (Part 1 of Art. 14, Part 2 of Art. 218, Part 2 of Art. 218 of the Criminal Code), unlawful actions in respect of items the damaging effect of which is based on the use of combustibles (Part 2 of Art. 295-3 of the Code).
13.02.2020 Anarchists receive lengthy prison terms over Molotov cocktail attack
Two activists describing themselves as anarchists were sentenced yesterday to seven years in a maximum-security penal colony following a trial that found them guilty on two counts of criminal hooliganism.
28.11.2019 Sentence in REP trade union trial commuted after an amnesty
The terms of “restricted liberty” earlier imposed on Henadz Fiadynich and Ihar Komlik, leaders of the independent trade union REP, have been reduced by 12 months, following an amnesty bill passed by the parliament, praca-by.info said.
25.10.2019 Ex-prisoner of conscience Dzmitry Paliyenka gets 10 months of “house arrest”
Dzmitry Paliyenka, former political prisoner and Amnesty International’s prisoner of conscience, has been sentenced to three years of “restricted freedom,” after a highly controversial trial at the Minsk City Court. The sentence will be reduced to 10 months, considering a recent amnesty and the defendant's stay in pre-trial detention. The activist was released in the courtroom.
