Nine people added to the list of political prisoners over defamation charges

Joint statement by the Belarusian human rights community

July 4, 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:

• Mr. Vadzim Hovin 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.
• Mr. Yury Pauliuchyk was convicted of “insulting” a government official and Mr. Lukashenka under Articles 369 and 368 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a penal colony.
• Mr. Yauhen Kushnarau was convicted of “slandering the president of Belarus” under Article 367 and “insulting state symbols” under Article 370 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
• Mr. Aleh Yahorankau 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.
• Mr. Pavel Yanchuk was convicted of “insulting the president” under Article 368 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment in a penal colony.
• Mr. Aliaksandr Khomchanka was convicted of “insulting the president” under Article 368 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment in a penal colony.
• Mr. Kanstantsin Stupnikau was placed in custody under Article 368 of the Criminal Code for “insulting” Mr. Lukashenka.
• Ms. Volha Matsko was placed in custody under Article 368 of the Criminal Code for “insulting” Mr. Lukashenka.
• Mr. Siarhei Luferenka was convicted of “insulting a government official” under Article 369, “insulting the president of Belarus” under Article 368, “slandering the president of Belarus” under Article 367, and “desecrating state symbols” under Article 370 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

We consider the persecution and imprisonment of the named individuals to be politically motivated, related to the peaceful exercise of expressing thoughts, and consider them 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. Vadzim Hovin, Mr. Yury Pauliuchyk, Mr. Yauhen Kushnarau, Mr. Aleh Yahorankau, Mr. Pavel Yanchuk, Mr. Aliaksandr Khomchanka, Mr. Kanstantsin Stupnikau, Ms. Volha Matsko, and Mr. Siarhei Luferenka and stop the criminal prosecution against them.
2. Adopt measures aimed at the decriminalization of defamation offenses and repeal the articles of the Criminal Code that provide liability for insulting the state and state symbols, namely Articles 188, 189, 361, 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

Human rights organization Legal Initiative

Lawtrend

PEN Belarus

Belarusian Association of Journalists

Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House

Human Constanta

Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Belarusian Helsinki Committee