Rights defenders learn about another eight political prisoners

Statement by the human rights community of Belarus

December 22, 2022

We, representatives of the human rights community in Belarus, note that criminal liability for “incitement of social hatred” under Article 130 of the Criminal Code (hereafter CC) has been selectively and discriminatorily applied by both the investigators and courts in an apparent attempt to protect the state bodies. Moreover, it seems unreasonable to label government officials, police officers, military personnel, etc. as separate social groups falling under protection in this context.

We insist that it is unacceptable to apply a law aimed to protect government officials, law enforcement officers, and judges from threats in connection with the lawful performance of their duties to punish those citizens who have spoken out in connection with the clear violation of the Constitution and law by state institutions, the involvement of government officials, prosecutors and judges in torture and in creating a climate of impunity for torture and other human rights violations, often showing signs of crimes against humanity.

We have information about the following people in custody:

Mr. Ruslan Sinkevich was convicted in a closed court of “creating an extremist formation” (p. 1 of Art. 361-1 of the CC), and “organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate the public order” (p. 1 of Art. 342 of the CC). He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

Mr. Dzmitryi Miadzvedski was convicted in a closed court of :

• “intentionally causing disrepair of ways and means of communication” (p. 1 of Art. 309 of the CC),
• “insulting the president” (Art. 368 of the CC), and
• “organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate the public order” (p. 1 of Art. 342 of the CC).

He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

Mr. Yury Trapachou was convicted in a closed court of:

• “creating an extremist formation” (p. 1 of Art. 361-1 of the CC),
• “defaming the president” (p. 2 of Art. 367 of the CC),
• “inciting social hatred” (p. 1 of Art. 130 of the CC), and
• “organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate the public order” (p. 1 of Art. 342 of the CC).

He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

Mr. Siarhei Rabtsau was convicted of

• “insulting and defaming the president” (Art. 368 and 367 of the CC),
• “insulting a government official” (Art. 369 of the CC),
• “inciting hatred” (p. 1 of Art. 130 of the CC), and
• “organizing mass riots” (p. 1 of Art. 293).

He was sentenced to six and a half years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

Mr. Artur Piadzko who was taken into custody under Art. 130 of the CC (“inciting hatred”) for transmitting information to protest Telegram channels.

Mr. Siarhei Nialepka was convicted of:

• “intentionally causing disrepair of ways and means of communication and transportation facilities” (p. 1 of Art. 309 of the CC),
• “acting illegally with respect to firearms, ammunition, and explosives” (p. 2 of Art. 295 of the CC),
• “threatening violence towards an employee of internal affairs bodies” (Art. 364 of the CC),
• “calling for restrictive measures (sanctions), and other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus (p. 3 of Art 361 of the CC),
• “organizing mass riots” (p. 1 of Art. 293 of the CC),
• “insulting the president” (p. 1 of Art. 368 of the CC),
• “inciting hatred” (p. 1 of Art. 130 of the CC),
• “using or threatening violence towards an official performing official duties or another person performing a public duty” (p. 2 of Art. 366 of the CC), and
• “insulting a government official” (Art. 369 of the CC).

He was sentenced to nine years of imprisonment.

Mr. Aliaksandr Durayeu was convicted of:

• “insulting a government official” (Art. 369 of the CC),
• “insulting and defaming the president” (p.1 of Art. 368 and p. 2 of 367 of the CC), and
• “acting illegally with respect to firearms, ammunition, and explosives” (p. 2 of Art. 295 of the CC) for possessing the ammunition.

He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. He has possessed ammunition since 1990 which was qualified under Part 2 of Article 295 of the Criminal Code. It is well settled that this offense is not punished by imprisonment in the same circumstances.

Having studied these criminal prosecution cases, we concluded that all of them are politically motivated. The court decisions were made for political reasons in violation of the fundamental principles of fair justice.

We reiterate that closed trials in which politically motivated criminal cases are heard and trials in the absence of the public, observers, and independent journalists grossly violate the rights of due process and bring the reliability, sufficiency, and admissibility of any prosecution evidence close to zero.

We emphasize once again that in a number of the abovementioned cases the nature of the acts of the accused was the result of numerous and widespread human rights violations by the authorities, the lack of freedom of expression, and caused by the lack of investigation of crimes against peaceful protesters and other victims of cruel treatment and torture, disappointment with the authorities’ reluctance to use the force of law to protect citizens’ violated rights in the absence of conditions for a democratic and constitutional change of government in fair elections.

Mr. Uladzislau Savin was convicted twice.

On March 30, 2022, he was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment under p. 4 of Art. 209 of the CC (“fraud on a large scale”) for the peculation of citizens’ money and to two years and 10 months of imprisonment under p. 1 of Art. 342 of the CC (“organization of actions that grossly violate the public order and participation in them”) for participating and posting calls to participate in 2020 peaceful demonstrations and rallies.

On October 26, 2022, he was also sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment under p. 1 of Art. 368 of the CC (“insult to the president”).

As a result, the punishment under the new sentence was added to the eight-year imprisonment term previously imposed by partial compounding the sentences. Considering the term already served (two and a half years), the remaining term is seven and a half years of imprisonment.

A significant part of the long-term imprisonment is the arbitrary punishment for Savin's exercise of his civil rights and freedoms. Thus, it is necessary to call to review sentences under Articles 342 and 368 of the CC and terminate the criminal proceedings under these articles.

According to the Guidelines on the Definition of Political Prisoners, a person deprived of liberty is to be regarded as a political prisoner, if at least one of the following criteria is observed:

• a) the detention has been imposed in violation of the right to a fair trial, other rights and freedoms guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
• d) the person has been detained in a discriminatory manner as compared to other persons.

We, the representatives of the Belarusian human rights community, recognize Mr. Ruslan Sinkevich, Mr. Dzmitryi Miadzvedski, Mr. Yury Trapachou, Mr. Siarhei Rabtsau, Mr. Artur Piadzko, Mr. Siarhei Nialepka, Mr. Aliaksandr Durayeu, and Mr. Uladzislau Savin as political prisoners.

We demand that the Belarusian authorities:

• review the sentences passed against the mentioned political prisoners while exercising the right to a fair trial and eliminating the factors that affected the qualification of actions, the type and amount of punishment;
• release the mentioned political prisoners by taking other measures to ensure their appearance in court;
• immediately release all political prisoners, review politically motivated sentences, and end political repression against citizens.

Human Rights Center Viasna

Legal initiative

Lawtrend

PEN Belarus

Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House