Rabkova and Chapiuk sentences commuted after appeal

On February 28, the Supreme Court considered behind closed doors the appeals of Viasna activists Marfa Rabkova and Andrei Chapiuk, as well as eight political prisoners in the Revolutionary Action case. The appeals of six defendants were dismissed by the judicial panel presided by Judge Aliaksei Rybakou, while the sentences of Rabkova, Chapiuk, and anarchist activists Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada and Aliaksandr Frantskevich were commuted for three months lesser imprisonment. The verdict came into force and the political prisoners will soon be transported to the colonies.

Thus, the final sentences are as follows:

• Aliaksandr Frantskevich received 16 years and 9 months of imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony and a fine of 22,400 Belarusian rubles (more than $8,800).
• Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada received 15 years and 9 months of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony and a fine of 22,400 Belarusian rubles (more than $8,800).
• Marfa Rabkova received 14 years and 9 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony and a fine of 22,400 Belarusian rubles (more than $8,800).
•  Andrei Chapiuk received 5 years and 9 months of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony and a fine of 16,000 Belarusian rubles (more than $6,300).
• Aliaksei Halauko received 12 years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony and a fine of 22,400 Belarusian rubles (more than $8,800).
• Pavel Shpetny, Mikita Dranets, and Aliaksandr Kazlianka received six years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony and a fine of 16,000 Belarusian rubles (more than $6,300).
• Andrei Marach and Danila Chul received five years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony and a fine of 16,000 Belarusian rubles (more than $6,300).

In addition, the National State TV and Radio Company of Belarus made a claim on Rabkova and Frantskevich for 2,344 rubles 65 kopecks (approximately $925). The state duty of 117 rubles 23 kopecks (approx.$45) and procedural expenses of 5,168 rubles and 82 kopecks (approx. $2,000) were also charged to Rabkova.

Marfa Rabkova's last word in court: “Every time we respond to someone else’s pain we bring our Belarus closer”

“I have lived all my life under the rule of Lukashenka. I was born and raised within this system. You are labeling me as ‘extremist’, stating that I was a destructive element, I was hateful, and I had lost my roots. But I am just as much a part of society as the rest of you.”

What were the political prisoners convicted for

The trial was closed to the public because there were “materials of extremist nature in the criminal case records” and continued for four months. A total of 70 hearings were held and 158 volumes of criminal files were presented to the court. As reported by the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor's office and pro-government media, political prisoners Marfa Rabkova, Andrei Chapiuk, Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Aliaksei Halauko, Aliaksandr Kazlianka, Pavel Shpetny, Mikita Dranets, Andrei Marach and Danila Chul were accused of organizing, leading or participating in the anarchist groups Revolutionary Action in Belarus and Ukraine and People's Self-Defense and are tried for events from 2016–2020.

Remarkably, the Internet resources of the Revolutionary Action and People's Self-Defense were recognized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an extremist formation on November 2, 2021, only 8 to 15 months after the detention of the last of the ten defendants in the case. However, some of them were still accused of ‘establishing and participating in an extremist formation’ under Parts 1 and 3 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code.

Investigation Committee characterized three political prisoners, including Marfa Rabkova, as organizers and leaders of a number of “organized criminal groups that had independent units in the regions of Belarus with their own leaders”.

As the result, defendants were charged under 10 articles of the Criminal Code depending on their role:

• Part 1 of Article 293 ‘organization of riots’—Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Marfa Rabkova and Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada
• Part 1 of Article 13 and Part 2 of Article 293 ‘preparation for participation in mass riots’— Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Marfa Rabkova, Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Andrei Chapiuk
• Part 3 of Article 293 ‘training of individuals to participate in mass riots’— Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Marfa Rabkova, and Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada
• Part 1 of Article 285 ‘creation of a criminal organization or its leadership’—Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Aliaksei Halauko, and Marfa Rabkova
• Part 2 of Article 285 ‘participation in a criminal organization’— Andrei Chapiuk, Andrei Marach, Pavel Shpetny, Aliaksandr Kazlianka, Mikita Dranets, and Danila Chul
• Part 3 of Article 361 ‘сalls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus’—Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, and Marfa Rabkova
• Part 1 and 361-1 of Article 361-1 ‘creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it’—Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Aliaksei Halauko, and Marfa Rabkova
• Part 1 of Article 342 ‘organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them’ (for a rally on March 5, 2017)—Pavel Shpetny, Aliaksandr Kazlianka, Mikita Dranets, Aliaksei Halauko, Andrei Marach, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, and Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada
• Part 1 of Article 342 ‘organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them’ (for blocking the M1 highway in Brest in 2018)—Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Kazlianka, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Mikita Dranets, Aliaksei Halauko, and Danila Chul
• Part 1 of Article 130 ‘incitement of hatred’— Andrei Chapiuk
• Part 3 and Article 130 ‘incitement to hatred’—Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, and Marfa Rabkova
• Part 2 of Article 339 ‘hooliganism committed by a group of persons’ (for throwing light bulbs with paint into billboards of the traffic police in 2016 and into the National State TV and Radio Company building in 2016)—Marfa Rabkova and Aliaksandr Frantskevich;
• Part 2 of Article 339 ‘hooliganism committed by a group of persons’ (for a smoke grenade thrown into the building of the Brest GUBOPiK in 2016)—Pavel Shpetny, Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, and Marfa Rabkova
• Article 341 ‘desecration of buildings and damage to property’ (for a graffiti in Brest in 2020)—Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Aliaksei Halauko, Marfa Rabkova, and Andrei Marach
• Article 341 ‘desecration of structures and damage to property’ (for a graffiti against the European Games in 2019)—Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, Andrei Chapiuk, Aliaksandr Frantskevich, and Marfa Rabkova
• Part 3 of Article 218, Part 3 of Article 339, Part 2 of Article 295-3 ‘illegal actions in relation to objects which action is based on use of combustible substances committed by a group of persons’ (for arson of the Homieĺ tax inspection and a billboard of the Department of Compulsory Execution of Punishment in Ivacevičy in 2017)—Aliaksandr Frantskevich, Marfa Rabkova, and Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada

According to Aliaksandr Kazlianka, eight of ten people refused to testify in the case. A separate criminal case against Dzmitryi Liauchuk, Artur Kandratovich, Raman Khalilau and Yauhen Zhurauski, who went abroad, as well as “unidentified persons” was singled out.