What happened to political prisoners last week

There are already 1,237 political prisoners in Belarus and counting. Every week the courts hand down new sentences and those already in custody receive new charges. But there are also those who have served their term and are finally released. Viasna has collected all the news about political prisoners for this week.

This week the list of political prisoners was updated with 18 new names: Aliaksandr Volski, Yuryi Zhukouski, Yauhen Nareika, Aliaksandr Novikau, Viktar Karnienka, Yauhen Ivonchyk, Yuryi Basalai, Viktar Ulasenka, Daniil Zharyn, Aksana Auchynskuya, Aleh Khramykh, Andrei Raptunovich, Aliaksandr Zahdai, and Kanstantsin Baisarau.

From July 4 to 8, at least two people were convicted in courts:

• Danuta Peradnia, an honors student at the Mahiliou State A. Kuleshov University, was assigned a harsh custodial sentence. On July 1, 2022, the Kiraŭ District Court found Danuta guilty under Article 361 of the Criminal Code (calls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus), and Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president) and sentenced her to six and a half years in a general-security penal colony. She was accused of making a repost in one of the local chats, which harshly criticized the actions of Vladimir Putin and Aliaksandr Lukashenka in unleashing war in Ukraine and called for street protests, and stated that the Belarusian army has no prospects in case it enters the war directly.
• On July 5, 2022, Aleh Audzeyenka, an activist of the anarchist movement from Minsk, was found guilty by the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (group actions that grossly violate public order) and sentenced to three years of restricted freedom under house arrest.

Two previous convictions also came to light this week:

• Aliaksandr Zialiutkin was found guilty in the criminal case of participation in mass riots (Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to three and a half years in a medium-security penal colony on June 16, 2022.
• Anastasiya Sankouskaya was found guilty under Article 342 of the Criminal Code(Organization of group actions that grossly violate public order and preparation or training of such activities) and sentenced to three years of restricted freedom under home confinement on June 23, 2022.

Three people fully served their terms and were released: Artsiom Tabakar and Ivan Dubrouski both of whom have served 12 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony, and Mikalai Vitsikau who has served 8 months in a penal colony.