Statement on recognition of Yury Trashchynski as a political prisoner

Rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the human rights com­mu­ni­ty of Belarus have pub­lished a joint state­ment regard­ing sound engi­neer Yuriy Trashchyn­s­ki, who is charged under Part 3 of Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code of Belarus for “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist group.” The sound engi­neer was charged with col­lab­o­rat­ing with the Belaru­sian Radio Racy­ja.

Yury Trashchyn­s­ki

Joint statement by the Belarusian human rights community

We, the rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the human rights com­mu­ni­ty of Belarus, once again note that crim­i­nal pros­e­cu­tion and impris­on­ment for actions relat­ed to the legit­i­mate exer­cise of free­dom of expres­sion are a tool for lim­it­ing the dis­sem­i­na­tion of uncen­sored infor­ma­tion in the coun­try, sup­press­ing pub­lic and polit­i­cal activ­i­ty and dis­sent.

On May 4, 2026, a ver­dict was hand­ed down to sound engi­neer Yury Trashchyn­s­ki, who was charged under part 3 of Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code of Belarus for “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist group.” The sound engi­neer was charged with col­lab­o­rat­ing with the Belaru­sian Radio Racy­ja, which the KGB labelled an “extrem­ist group” on Jan­u­ary 16, 2024. The Homieĺ Region­al Court sen­tenced Yury Trashchyn­s­ki to 2.5 years of gen­er­al-secu­ri­ty impris­on­ment in a penal colony and a fine of 22,500 rou­bles (more than 6,800 euros). On July 7, 2026, after the Supreme Court reject­ed his appeal, the sen­tence took effect. The human rights com­mu­ni­ty of Belarus has repeat­ed­ly not­ed that anti-extrem­ist leg­is­la­tion is used by the Belaru­sian author­i­ties for the pur­pos­es of polit­i­cal repres­sion. Out-of-court, the Inte­ri­or Min­istry and the KGB arbi­trar­i­ly des­ig­nate as extrem­ist cit­i­zens’ groups brought togeth­er by pub­lic or polit­i­cal inter­ests that crit­i­cize the actions of the author­i­ties and demand reforms in the state and its poli­cies. 54 media resources were deemed “extrem­ist groups” as well. This paves the way for arbi­trary crim­i­nal pros­e­cu­tion and impris­on­ment of their mem­bers, par­tic­i­pants, and respon­dents as a dis­pro­por­tion­ate mea­sure restrict­ing the right to asso­ci­a­tion and free­dom of expres­sion. 

The above pro­vides every rea­son to assert that the crim­i­nal pros­e­cu­tion and con­vic­tion of Yury Trashchyn­s­ki are polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed and intend­ed to stop his legit­i­mate activ­i­ties relat­ed to the non-vio­lent exer­cise of free­dom of expres­sion and the dis­sem­i­na­tion of infor­ma­tion.

Based on this and guid­ed by para. 2.1 and 3.1 of the Guide­lines on the Def­i­n­i­tion of Polit­i­cal Pris­on­ers adopt­ed at the III Belaru­sian Human Rights Forum, we, human rights defend­ers, rec­og­nize Yury Trashchyn­s­ki as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er and call on the Belaru­sian author­i­ties to:

• imme­di­ate­ly release and reha­bil­i­tate Yury Trashchyn­s­ki with com­pen­sa­tion for the dam­age caused;

• refrain from using crim­i­nal pros­e­cu­tion as an instru­ment of pres­sure on free­dom of expres­sion, or oth­er rights and free­doms;

• imme­di­ate­ly stop the repres­sion and release all polit­i­cal pris­on­ers.

Human Rights Cen­ter Vias­na;

Legal Ini­tia­tive;

Lawtrend;

Barys Zvozskau Belaru­sian Human Rights House;

PEN Belarus;

Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists;

Human Con­stan­ta;

Office for the Rights of Per­sons with Dis­abil­i­ties;

Respect-Pro­tect-Ful­fill;

Belaru­sian Helsin­ki Com­mit­tee.