Fifteen people added to the list of political prisoners in Belarus
Statement by the human rights community of Belarus
April 14, 2023
We, representatives of the human rights community of Belarus, note that criminal liability for “incitement of hatred” under Article 130 of the Criminal Code 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 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 from punishing those citizens who have spoken out in connection with the apparent 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.
A closed trial in these cases grossly violates the accused’s procedural rights. It reduces to the lowest level the assessment of the credibility, sufficiency, and admissibility of any evidence for the prosecution.
Fifteen people were convicted:
- Mr. Aliaksandr Yemialyanau was convicted of “inciting to other social hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code) and “insulting the president of Belarus” (part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony over posting on Telegram negative comments on law enforcement officers, military and Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
- Mr. Ivan Kotau was convicted of:
- “inciting to other social hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code),
- “organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order and active participation in them” (part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code),
- “calling for restrictive measures (sanctions) or other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus” (part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code), and
- “insulting the president” (part 1, Article 368 of the Criminal Code)
over his claims of unlawful law enforcement actions, appeals, recommendations and training instructions for participation in protests and calls to strike and insulting Lukashenka. Mr. Kotau was sentenced to three and a half years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
- Mr. Kanstantsin Lapitski was convicted in a closed-door trial of:
- “inciting to other social hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code),
- “insulting the president of Belarus” (part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code), and
- “slandering the president of Belarus” (Article 367 of the Criminal Code).
He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
- Mr. Radyion Kachatkou was convicted of “inciting to other social hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment in a penal colony over two commentaries posted online.
- Mr. Raman Yankouski was tried for sharing a video from a Telegram channel recognized as extremist and containing insults to Aliaksandr Lukashenka and calls to overthrow his government, commenting on Interior Ministry employees in Telegram groups, criticizing the activities of the government and administration, and providing information about an Interior Ministry employee to a protest telegram channel. The court found him guilty of:
- “insulting a government official” (Article 369 of the Criminal Code),
- “calling for restrictive measures (sanctions) and other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus” (Part 3, Article 361 of the Criminal Code),
- “promoting extremist activity” (parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code),
- “insulting the president of Belarus” (part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code), and
- “unlawful acts in relation to privacy and personal data” (part 3 of Art. 203-1 of the Criminal Code)
and sentenced to four and a half years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
- Mr. Aliaksandr Rumko was convicted in a closed-door trial of:
- “slandering the president of Belarus” (part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code),
- “rehabilitating nazism” (part 1 of Article 130-1 of the Criminal Code), and
- “inciting to hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code)
over commenting police officers and Aliaksandr Lukashenka on social networks and the “glorification of the collaborationists”. The court sentenced him to three and a half years of imprisonment.
- Ms. Tatsiana Kurylina was convicted of:
- “calling for restrictive measures (sanctions), other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus” (part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code),
- “insulting a government official” (Article 369 of the Criminal Code),
- “organizing and preparing actions, which grossly violate public order, active participation in them” (part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code),
- “unlawful acts in relation to privacy and personal data” (parts 1, 2, and 3 of Article 203-1 of the Criminal Code),
- “inciting social hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code),
- “slandering” (Article 188 of the Criminal Code),
- “slandering the president of Belarus” (parts 1 and 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code),
- “insulting the president” (part 1 of Article 368 Criminal Code), and
- “threatening an official performing official duties or another person performing a public duty” (part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code).
She was sentenced to four years and a half months of imprisonment in a penal colony.
- Mr. Artsiom Zubrakou was convicted of “inciting social hatred” (part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code) and “unlawful acts in relation to privacy and personal data” (part 3 of Article 203-1 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a penal colony and a fine.
- Mr. Mikalai Davydau was convicted of:
- “inciting social hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code),
- “insulting the president of Belarus” (part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code), and
- “insulting government officials” (Article 369 of the Criminal Code).
He was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a penal colony and a fine.
- Mr. Anatol Malinouski was convicted of “inciting social hatred” (part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment in a penal colony.
- Ms. Irena Kliavets has been detained for a long time in a pre-trial detention center on charges of collecting and transmitting to the protest Telegram-channel data on government officials.
We are also aware of the following cases:
- Ms. Volha Salamenik and Mr. Uladzimir Tryfanau were convicted of “high treason” (part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code) and “illegal acts with respect to firearms, ammunition, and explosives” (part 2 of Article 295 of the Criminal Code). They were sentenced to seven and a half and 14 years of imprisonment in a penal colony, respectively. We believe that the charges of high treason against the state were attributed to the defendants arbitrarily, and the pre-trial and trial proceedings in the case violated the fundamental principles of justice.
- Mr. Yahor Kurzin was convicted of “attempting to cross the state border illegally” (part 1 of Article 14 and part 3 of Article 371 of the Criminal Code) and “evading military service” (part 1 of Article 435 of the Criminal Code) over attempting to leave Belarus out of fear of being politically persecuted. The criminal prosecution for attempted border crossing was enabled by arbitrarily attributing it as committed “in an organized group”. Mr. Kurzin was sentenced to three years of imprisonment.
- Mr. Maksim Seliazniou was convicted in a closed-door trial of “committing an act of terrorism” and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
We emphasize once again that in a number of the abovementioned cases, the nature of the acts of the accused was the outcome 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.
We reiterate that closed-door trials in the absence of the public, observers, and independent journalists in which politically motivated criminal cases are heard grossly violate the rights of due process and bring the reliability, sufficiency, and admissibility of any prosecution evidence close to zero.
Having studied these criminal prosecution cases, we concluded that all of them are politically motivated.
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, declare that the further deprivation of liberty of Mr. Aliaksandr Yemialyanau, Mr. Ivan Kotau, Mr. Kanstantsin Lapitski, Mr. Radyion Kachatkou, Mr. Raman Yankouski, Mr. Aliaksandr Rumko, Ms. Tatsiana Kurylina, Mr. Artsiom Zubrakou, Mr. Mikalai Davydau, Mr. Anatol Malinouski, Ms. Irena Kliavets, Ms. Volha Salamenik, Mr. Uladzimir Tryfanau, Mr. Yahor Kurzin, and Mr. Maksim Seliazniou is politically motivated, and they themselves are 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 severity 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
PEN Belarus
Legal Initiative
Lawtrend
Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House
Belarusian Helsinki Committee
