Nine people recognized political prisoners over defamation charges

Joint statement by the Belarusian human rights community

January 19, 2023

The Belarusian human rights community notes an increase in the number of convictions and imprisonments under several defamation and desecration of state symbols articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, and for other actions aimed at the lawful exercise of the freedom of expression.
 
We demand to put an end to the persecution of legitimate expression of views and, reaffirming our repeated calls to decriminalize defamation and to refrain from imposing custodial sentences 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. Dzmitryi Adarachkin was convicted of “insulting the president of Belarus” under Part 368 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a penal colony.
2. Mr. Andrei Kupreyeu was convicted of “insulting the president of Belarus” under Part 368 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a penal colony.
3. Mr. Vadzim Baranau was detained under Article 366 of the Criminal Code for “using threats” toward Mr. Lukashenka.
4. Mr. Mikita Maliar was convicted and sentenced to 24 months of restricted freedom in an open-type penal facility for tearing a red and green flag from a building. He has started to serve his sentence.
5. Mr. Maksim Palianski was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years of restricted freedom in an open-type penal facility under Article 369 of the Criminal Code for a commentary towards an internal bodies officer posted on the internet. He has started to serve his sentence.
6. Mr. Piotr Piatrusha was convicted and sentenced to six months of imprisonment in a penal colony under Article 341 of the Criminal Code for drawing in white and red colors in public places.
7. Mr. Ruslan Krasau was convicted of “insulting and defaming the president of Belarus” under part 2 of Article 368 and part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
8. Mr. Aliaksandr Sinitsa was convicted and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment in a penal colony under Article 341 of the Criminal Code for graffiti.
9. Mr. Aliaksandr Trush was convicted of “insulting the president of Belarus” and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment in a penal colony under Article 368 of the Criminal Code.

We consider the persecution and imprisonment of the persons listed above politically motivated in nexus with the peaceful exercise of their views. Therefore, we recognize these persons as political prisoners per paragraph 3.1 (a) of the Guidelines on the Definition of Political Prisoners. We demand that the Belarusian authorities:

1. Immediately release the political prisoners Mr. Dzmitryi Adarachkin, Mr. Andrei Kupreyeu, Mr. Vadzim Baranau, Mr. Mikita Maliar, Mr. Maksim Palianski, Mr. Piotr Piatrusha, Mr. Ruslan Krasau, Mr. Aliaksandr Sinitsa, and Mr. Aliaksandr Trush and stop the criminal prosecution against them.
2. Decriminalize defamation offenses and abolish the articles of the Criminal Code that institute 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 drop all ongoing criminal cases under these articles.
3. Immediately release all political prisoners and stop political repression.

Human Rights Center Viasna

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