The statement on the recognition of 20 people as political prisoners

Statement by the human rights community of Belarus

May 21, 2024

We, representatives of the human rights community of Belarus, note:

- the authorities abuse criminal law and apply excessively harsh measures of responsibility to protesters and dissidents for committing actions that did not entail serious consequences, often having obvious features of being provoked artificially. In particular, categorizing of actions as terrorism initially does not correspond to the content, in accordance with international standards, of this concept in accordance with the Statement of the human rights community of October 18, 2022. At the same time, violations of the principles of fair justice, including the presumption of innocence and the right to protection, guarantees specified in international law for minors and persons against whom detention is used, worsen the arbitrary nature of persecution;

- detention in the absence of sufficient grounds for the application of a preventive measure restricting personal freedom contrary to the position of the UN Human Rights Committee based on the norms of international law, which has become a common practice in modern Belarus; in accordance with the Statement of the human rights community of September 6, 2021, this factor is the basis for the requirement to review the procedural decisions and measures taken against them while respecting the right to a fair trial;

- all or part of the public may be excluded from a trial for reasons of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of the parties so requires, or in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice. In the absence of such exceptional circumstances, the proceedings should be open to the general public, including representatives of the media; even in cases where the public is denied access to the trial, the court decision, including the main conclusions, evidence, and legal arguments, should be made public. Violation of this rule, in accordance with the position set out in the Statement of the human rights community dated December 22, 2021, gives grounds to demand a review of the verdict while eliminating the factors that influenced it;

- criminal charges for incitement of "other social hatred or discord" (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 institutions of power. Moreover, it seems unreasonable to label representatives of the authorities, police officers, military personnel, etc. as separate social groups falling under protection in this context.

- the description of Article 356 of the Criminal Code (treason to the state) is formulated vaguely, and it allows for a broad interpretation, which from 2020 in practice entails arbitrary conviction of citizens who did not threaten national security in the sense attached to this concept in democratic states; in this regard, the state has the obligation to prove the public danger of the act with strict compliance with procedural guarantees.

In this regard, it should be recalled that any permissible limitations imposed on fundamental rights and freedoms must be “necessary in a democratic society”. Therefore, restrictions must be necessary and proportionate in a society based on democracy, the rule of law, political pluralism, and human rights. These measures must also be the least restrictive of those that could provide an appropriate protective function. Otherwise, state intervention, including in the form of criminal prosecution for violations of national law, would constitute a violation of human rights.

Thus, human rights defenders are aware of the conviction of:

• Artsiom Makavei, a citizen of Ukraine, under Article 358-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus on charges of espionage activities; he was sentenced in a closed court hearing to six years of imprisonment in a penal colony;

• Aliaksei Herman, convicted under Article 369-1, Part 3 of Article 361-1, 369, Part 1 of Article 368, Part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code on charges of discrediting Belarus, creating an extremist formation or participating in it, insulting a government representative, insulting A. Lukashenka, inciting other social hatred; he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a penal colony;

• Hleb Sakhar under Part 3 of Article 361, 361-1, 368, 369, 130 of the Criminal Code on charges of creating an extremist formation or participating in it, insulting a representative of the government, insulting A. Lukashenka, inciting other social hatred; he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

It is also known about the detention of:

• Katsiaryna Shablinskaya-Ivanova under articles 130, 361, 342 of the Criminal Code on charges of inciting other social hatred, calls for restrictive measures, participation in peaceful protests;

• Vasil Prokharau under Article 356 of the Criminal Code on charges of treason against the state;

• Larysa Prokharava under Article 356 of the Criminal Code on charges of treason against the state;

• Pavel Prokharau under Article 356 of the Criminal Code on charges of treason against the state;

• Viktoryia Damastoi under articles 130, 342, 361-4, 367, 368 of the Criminal Code on charges of inciting other social hatred, participating in peaceful protests, promoting extremist activities, insulting A. Lukashenka and slandering him;

• Uladzimir Balabanovich under Article 130, Part 3 of Article 361 on charges of inciting other social hatred, calls for restrictive measures;

• Natallia Kruk under articles 361, 342 of the Criminal Code on charges of calling for restrictive measures, participating in peaceful protests;

• Dzmitry Tsikunou under Article 130, Part 3 of Article 361 on charges of inciting other social hatred, calls for restrictive measures;

• Anton Kazelski under Article 130, Part 3 of Article 361 on charges of inciting other social hatred, calls for restrictive measures;

• Liudmila Likhacheuskaya under Article 130 and Article 342 on charges of inciting other social hatred, active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order;

• minor citizens of Ukraine Maryia Misiuk, Trafim Barysau, Dzmitry Zakharoshka, Siarhei Zhyhaliou, Anastasiya Klimenka, Aliaksandr Pulinovich, Daniil Herasim on charges of treason and preparation for a terrorist act.

Court proceedings against all the accused were held with gross violations of the principles of fair trial and the procedural rights of the defendants: the court failed to ensure impartiality and independence; the court ignored the defendants’ allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; the court was unable to secure the adversarial proceedings and impartial assessment of the evidence.

In evaluating all of these criminal prosecution cases, we see a political motive in the prosecution of the defendants. We believe that the procedural measures and court decisions were made for political reasons in violation of the fundamental principles of fair justice.

We emphasize once again that 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, lack of a fair trial and conditions for a democratic and constitutional change of government in fair elections.

We once again remind that the consideration of politically motivated criminal cases in closed or effectively closed court sessions, in the absence of the public, observers, and independent press, in an environment of intolerance towards the activities of human rights organizations, defenders, and independent journalists, grossly violates the procedural rights of the accused and critically undermines the assessment of the authenticity, sufficiency, and admissibility of any evidence of the accusation. The gross violation of the presumption of innocence also discredits the judicial process.

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:

1. 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;

2. d) the person has been detained in a discriminatory manner as compared to other persons.

We, representatives of the Belarusian human rights community, declare the recognition of Artsiom Makavei, Aliaksei Herman, Hleb Sakhar, Katsiaryna Shablinskaya-Ivanova, Vasil Prokharau, Larysa Prokharava, Pavel Prokharau, Viktoryia Damastoi, Uladzimir Balabanovich, Natallia Kruk, Dzmitry Tsikunou, Anton Kazelski, Liudmila Likhacheuskaya, Maryia Misiuk, Trafim Barysau, Dzmitryi Zakharoshka, Siarhei Zhyhaliou, Anastasiya Klimenka, Aliaksandr Pulinovich, Daniil Herasim as political prisoners. We demand from 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 categorizing 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 preventive measures and sentences, and end political repression against citizens.

Human Rights Center Viasna;

Human Constanta;

Belarusian Association of Journalists;

Belarusian PEN;

Lawtrend;

Legal initiative.