Defamation articles remain reprisals tool: 11 more people recognized political prisoners

Joint statement by the Belarusian human rights community

October 11, 2022

In response to an increase in the number of cases of conviction and imprisonment of individuals under a number of defamatory articles of the Criminal Code, as well as for insulting state symbols of the Republic of Belarus, and other actions aimed at the lawful exercising of freedom of expression we, representatives of the Belarusian human rights community demand to put the end to the persecution for legitimate expression of views and, reaffirming our repeated calls to decriminalize defamation and to refrain from imposing terms of imprisonment for insulting officials, the state, government agencies and symbols (as mentioned in the Joint statement of December 22, 2020), note the following:

At the moment we know about the following persons imprisoned for having allegedly insulted Mr. Aliaksandr Lukashenka, police officers, judges, desecrated state and state symbols, and exercised their freedom of opinion in other forms:

1. Mr. Maksim Hrechkayedau—taken into custody in Zeltser case.
2. Mr. Viktar Dzibrou—taken into custody under Article 368 of the Criminal Code for ‘insulting the president’.
3. Mr. Aliaksandr Patapau—taken into custody under Article 368 of the Criminal Code for ‘insulting the president’.
4. Ms. Volha Kavaliova—convicted of ‘insulting a government official’, ‘insulting a judge’, and ‘violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies’ and sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony under Articles 369, 391, and 364 of the Criminal Code.
5. Ms. Anastasiya Savuliak—convicted of ‘insulting the president’ and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment in a penal colony under Part 1 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code.
6. Mr. Siarhei Fisiuk—convicted of ’incitement of hatred’ in the Zeltser case and sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony under Article 130 of the Criminal Code.
7. Mr. Tsimafei Shkuratovich—convicted of ‘organization of riots’, ‘insulting a government official’, and ’incitement of hatred’ in the Zeltser case and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a penal colony under Part 1 of Article 293, Part 1 of Article 130, and Article 369 of the Criminal Code.
8. Mr. Uladzimir Shurkhayeu—convicted of ‘insulting the president’, ‘insulting a government official’, and ‘insulting a judge’ and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in penal colony under Articles 368, 369, and 391 of the Criminal Code.
9. Mr. Dzmitryi Yanushkevich—convicted of ‘desecrating state symbols’ and ‘insulting the president’ and sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment in a penal colony under Article 370 and Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code.
10. Mr. Filip Fedarenkau—convicted of ‘insulting a government official’ and sentenced to two and a half years of restricted freedom in an open-type penal facility under Article 369 of the Criminal Code; sent to serve her sentence;
11. Ms. Zhanna Charniauskaya—convicted of ‘insulting a government official’ and sentenced to two and a half years of restricted freedom in an open-type penal facility under Article 369 of the Criminal Code; sent to serve her sentence;

We consider the persecution and imprisonment of the persons listed above politically motivated in connection with the peaceful exercise of their views, and the convicts as political prisoners per paragraph 3.1 (a) of the Guidelines on the Definition of Political Prisoners. We, therefore, call on the Belarusian authorities to:

1. Immediately release the political prisoners Ms. Zhanna Charniauskaya, Mr. Viktar Dzibrou, Mr. Uladzimir Shurkhayeu, Mr. Aliaksandr Patapau, Mr. Dzmitryi Yanushkevich, Mr. Siarhei Fisiuk, Mr. Maksim Hrechkayedau, Mr. Tsimafei Shkuratovich, Mr. Filip Fedarenkau, Ms. Volha Kavaliova, and Ms. Anastasiya Savuliak and stop their criminal prosecution.
2. decriminalize defamation offenses and abolish articles of the Criminal Code that provide for liability for insulting the state and state symbols, namely Articles 188, 189, 367, 368, 369, 369-1, 370, and 391 of the Criminal Code, and stop all ongoing criminal cases under these articles;
3. Immediately release all political prisoners and stop political repression.

Human Rights Center Viasna

Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House

PEN Belarus

Legal Initiative

Belarusian Helsinki Committee

Lawtrend