The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for February 2021

18.02.2021 Viasna human rights defender Dzmitry Salauyou sentenced to 12 days in prison

Dzmitry Salauyou, human rights defender and member of the Board of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, was sentenced today to 12 days of administrative detention, after Judge Anzhalika Kazlova of the Minsk District Court found him guilty of “illegal picketing” (Art. 23.34 of the Administrative Code).

18.02.2021 MPs from Great Britain and Switzerland take over godparenthood for Ryhor Hunko, Illia Trakhtenberg and Kseniya Lutskina

As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco, Baroness Angela Smith (House of Lords, Labour Party), Katharina Prelicz-Huber (National Council, The Greens) and Benjamin Roduit (National Council, The Centre) have taken over a godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus.

18.02.2021 Belsat TV journalists sentenced to 2 years in prison

Katsiaryna Bakhvalava (Andreyeva) and Darya Chultsova, journalists working with the Belsat TV channel, were sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment in a general-security penitentiary each, after Judhe Natallia Buhuk of the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk found them today guilty of involvement in “group actions gravely breaching public order” (Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code).

17.02.2021 Political prisoner Ihar Prazhennikau sentenced to 1.5 years in prison

Judge Yuliya Chyzh of the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk has sentenced political prisoner Ihar Prazhennikau to one and a half years in a general-security penal colony under Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code.

17.02.2021 Statement on the unprecedented attack on Belarusian human rights defenders

Assistance to victims of reprisals is increasingly becoming a reason for criminal proceedings against Belarusians defending human rights.

17.02.2021 New reprisals against civil society activists underpin vicious crackdown on human rights

The Belarusian authorities have now set their sights on human rights defenders and journalists whose only crime has been to document the wave of gross human rights violations committed by security forces following last August’s contested presidential election.

16.02.2021 Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders strongly condemns escalating crackdown on Belarusian activists

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders and journalists and urges the authorities in Belarus to immediately put an end to the persecution and harassment, including at the judicial level, of the above-mentioned human rights defenders and journalists.

16.02.2021 Political prisoner Andrei Papou sentenced to five years in prison

Judge Anzhela Kastsiukevich of the Zavodski District Court of Minsk has sentenced political prisoner Andrei Papou to five years in a medium-security penal colony, finding him guilty under Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code (rioting).

16.02.2021 BAJ, Viasna under attack

At least 25 human rights defenders, mostly working with the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, have been either detained or targeted in police raids this morning. Several offices were searched, both in Minsk and across Belarus, including Viasna’s office in Minsk.

15.02.2021 10 more arrested protesters declared political prisoners

Joint statement by the human rights organizations of Belarus

15.02.2021 3 more MPs from Great Britain, Switzerland and Germany join godparenthood campaign

As part of the solidarity campaign #WeStandBYyou of Libereco, Tony Lloyd (House of Commons, Labour Party), Nicolas Walder (National Council, The Greens) and Gunther Krichbaum (Bundestag, CDU) have taken over a godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus.

15.02.2021 Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders condemns new charges against Viasna coordinator Marfa Rabkova

The Observatory has been informed about the new criminal charges against Maria (a.k.a Marfa) Rabkova, Coordinator of volunteer services at the Human Rights Center “Viasna”.

12.02.2021 Hands off Marfa, hands off Viasna, hands off human rights defenders!

Statement by the Board of the Human Rights Center "Viasna"

12.02.2021 #WeStandBYyou: New godparents for Belarusian political prisoners

Belarusian political prisoners Yan Falkin, Iryna Shchasnaya, Tsimur Ryzapur, Viktoryia Hrankouskaya, Dzmitry Zheburtovich and Pavel Drozd will be sponsored by German and British MPs.

12.02.2021 Viasna’s Marfa Rabkova faces new charges

On February 11, Marfa Rabkova, coordinator of Viasna’s volunteer network, faced new criminal charges of “inciting social hostility to the government by a group of unidentified individuals” (Part 3 of Art. 130) and “involvement in a criminal organization” (Part 2 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code).