News on the topic: trials
25.01.2023 Appeal against the sentences of Rabkova and Chapiuk to be heard on February 28
This became known from the letter of the political prisoner Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada.
20.01.2023 Hasty trial against Viasna continues: court reads case files at record speed
On Days 7, 8, and 9, the court examined thousands of pages. Meanwhile, it became known that the court was discouraging witnesses from attending the process.
19.01.2023 Darya Losik receives 24 months in jail for speaking out in husband’s defense
The political prisoner was convicted of “facilitating extremism” for an interview to a banned oppositional media.
18.01.2023 Viasna trial through the eyes of a spectator: Prosecution evidence is questionable and security measures unprecedented
Spectator at court and human rights activist Alena Masliukova share their impressions of the process.
18.01.2023 First verdict under “special proceeding” trial pronounced
Black Book of Belarus project admins receive 12 years in jail in an in absentia trial.
17.01.2023 The trial in absentia of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya starts in Minsk
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Pavel Latushka, Volha Kavalkova, Maryia Maroz, and Siarhei Dyleuski were charged under 12 criminal articles.
16.01.2023 Trial against Viasna: Days 6 and 7
Witnesses refuse to come to court, Stefanovic claims that they were pressurized in pre-trial detention, and Labkovich asks for medics once again.
16.01.2023 Viasna’s lawyer Pavel Sapelka comments on the trial of his colleagues: "This is a crackdown on human rights defenders in the guise of justice"
Since 5 January, the Leninski District Court of Minsk has been housing proceedings in the Viasna Case brought against Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich, and Uladzimir Labkovich. We have discussed the proceedings with our colleague, Viasna’s lawyer Pavel Sapelka.
13.01.2023 Testimonies by Secret Witnesses and Interrogation of Customs Officers: Fourth and Fifth Court Sessions in Viasna Case
On January 11 and 12, the trial of the Viasna case continued in the Lieninsky District Court of Minsk. The defendants Ales Bialiatski, the chairman of the Viasna Human Rights Center and a Nobel laureate, his deputy Valiantsin Stefanovic, and the coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign Uladzimir Labkovich are being tried according to Part 4 of Art. 228 (‘Smuggling by an organized group’) and Part 2 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (‘Financing of group actions that grossly violate public order’). The human rights defender Zmitser Salauyou, who had to leave Belarus due to criminal prosecution, is also being tried in absentia. The infamous Judge Maryna Zapasnik is considering the case, and Prosecutor Aliaksandr Karol supports the state prosecution. We will tell you what happened at the fourth and fifth court sessions in the high-profile case against the human rights defenders of Viasna.
13.01.2023 Both persecuted artist Ales Pushkin: what is known about prosecutor and judge in Viasna case
Zapasnik’s gavel has decided the fate of many well-known public figures, activists, and protesters. Karol has eyewitnessed political prisoners cutting their veins and stomach in the courtroom during ‘political’ trials. This is what is known to Viasna about the prosecutor and the judge in the Viasna case.
10.01.2023 Trial against Viasna leadership: Day 3
Uladzimir Labkovich asks for medical help. Rights defenders reiterate their demands to take off the handcuffs.
06.01.2023 Trial against Viasna leadership: Day 2
The court proceeds with questioning independent journalists.
06.01.2023 Criminal prosecution in 2022: 1,242 persons convicted on political grounds
Belarusian judicial system has been actively criminalizing citizens for political reasons in 2022.
05.01.2023 Trial against Viasna leadership: Day 1
Human rights defenders demand the trial in the Belarusian language and plead not guilty.
05.01.2023 Viasna members go on trial
Among them Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialitski
