Belarusian media workers behind bars. Portraits

As cam­paign­ing for the 2020 elec­tions began, the Belaru­sian author­i­ties launched a war on jour­nal­ists and inde­pen­dent media.

They were stripped of their press cards, beat­en, shot with rub­ber bul­lets, arrest­ed and detained for weeks, and charged with crim­i­nal offens­es. Since then, jour­nal­ists have been arrest­ed on more than 500 occa­sions.

The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists mon­i­tors all cas­es of harass­ment of jour­nal­ists and media work­ers. Below, you will find infor­ma­tion on those impris­oned on crim­i­nal charges. 

Aliaksandr Mantsevich, journalist, Rehijanalnaja Hazeta editor-in-chief, behind bars since 15 March 2023

Ali­ak­san­dr Mant­se­vich from Vile­j­ka estab­lished Rehi­janal­na­ja Haze­ta in April 1995 and has been head­ing it ever since. It was one of the first pri­vate pub­li­ca­tions in Belarus and, before it was closed down, it became the lead­ing inde­pen­dent media in Mal­adzech­na and the Dis­trict. Mant­se­vich had won numer­ous jour­nal­is­tic con­tests and prizes for high-qual­i­ty work.

On 15 March, he was arrest­ed dur­ing a wave of raids on region­al mass media togeth­er with his wife Nina Mant­se­vich and his col­leagues Siarhei Stankievich and Aleh Rubche­nia. The lat­ter spent 15 days in deten­tion for alleged “dis­obe­di­ence to the police,” and the wife was released. On 23 March, it became known that a crim­i­nal case was brought against the 64-year-old edi­tor-in-chief and he was trans­ferred to a pre-tri­al deten­tion cen­ter. Ali­ak­san­dr was accused of “delib­er­ate­ly spread­ing false infor­ma­tion defam­ing Belarus and its author­i­ties.” The case was based on arti­cles pub­lished in Rehi­janal­na­ja Haze­ta from 1 Jan­u­ary 2020 to 15 March 2023.

Charges: Arti­cle 369–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (dis­cred­it­ing the Repub­lic of Belarus).

Birth­day: 5 August 1958

Viachaslau Lazarau, journalist, cameraman, behind bars since 9 February 2023

Viachaslau was arrest­ed at home in Vit­seb­sk. The police searched his apart­ment and his wife’s home and seized dig­i­tal equip­ment: smart­phones, a lap­top, and a video cam­era. The jour­nal­ist was lat­er charged with “pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty.”

In 2018 and 2019 Laza­rau was fined twice for “ille­gal pro­duc­tion of media prod­ucts” (part 2 of Arti­cle 22.9 of the Admin­is­tra­tive Offences Code). In 2020, the Kas­trych­nit­s­ki Dis­trict Court of Vit­seb­sk dis­missed the case against him under the same arti­cle. Dur­ing the August 2020 events, Laza­rau was also arrest­ed and kept in deten­tion for sev­er­al hours with­out charges.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Charges: Arti­cle 361–4 of the Crim­i­nal Code (pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty).

Birth­day: 29 August 1976

Pavel Padabed, journalist, cameraman, behind bars since 21 January 2023

Pavel Pad­abed was detained in Min­sk on his way to a post office. He was like­ly arrest­ed at the post office, as he has not made all the nec­es­sary pay­ments and could not be reached.

Ini­tial­ly, he spent 15 days in deten­tion for “dis­sem­i­na­tion of extrem­ist con­tent.” After that, a crim­i­nal case was opened against him for repost­ing from “extrem­ist” media back in 2012. Pavel was trans­ferred to Min­sk pre-tri­al deten­tion facil­i­ty. In the autumn 2020, Pavel was arrest­ed when cov­er­ing one of the protests.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Charges: Arti­cle 361–4 of the Crim­i­nal Code (pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty).

Birth­day: 13 May 1979

Larysa Shchyrakova, former independent journalist, behind bars since 6 December 2022

Larysa Shchyrako­va, a for­mer inde­pen­dent jour­nal­ist from Homel, was detained on Decem­ber 6. Lat­er it became known that a crim­i­nal case was brought against her for “dis­cred­it­ing the Repub­lic of Belarus.”

Shchyrako­va’s minor son was tak­en to a chil­dren’s shel­ter on the day of his moth­er’s arrest. His father, who lives in Rus­sia, was able to col­lect his son from the shel­ter.

Back in 2021, Shchyrako­va pub­licly announced that she quit jour­nal­ism. She worked as a pho­tog­ra­ph­er, doc­u­ment­ing Belaru­sian cul­tur­al tra­di­tions and offer­ing folk-style pho­to­shoots to the pub­lic.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized her as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Charges: Arti­cle 369–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (dis­cred­it­ing the Repub­lic of Belarus).

Birth­day: 13 April 1973

Dzmitry Semchanka, ex-regime promoter at All-National TV, behind bars since 15 September 2022

Dzmit­ry Sem­chanka, head of the “pres­i­den­tial pool,” resigned from the state-run All-Nation­al TV after a vio­lent crack­down on protests in August 2020. In Sep­tem­ber of that year, he spent 15 days in tem­po­rary deten­tion for par­tic­i­pat­ing in a protest march. On 15 Sep­tem­ber 2022, Dzmit­ry and his wife Yulia were arrest­ed again in Min­sk. Yulia was soon released, while Dzmit­ry spent 30 days in deten­tion for “dis­or­der­ly con­duct.”

In Octo­ber, it became known that Sem­chanka was crim­i­nal­ly charged with “incit­ing social hatred.” A “repen­tance video” appeared in pro-regime Telegram chan­nels, where Sem­chanka explained that there was a com­ment to his post on social media that the expert com­mit­tee con­sid­ered incite­ment to hatred against police offi­cers.

Sem­chanka was accused of mak­ing three social media posts in 2020–2022 that alleged­ly formed a “neg­a­tive atti­tude toward law enforce­ment agen­cies, mil­i­tary per­son­nel, and rep­re­sen­ta­tives of state author­i­ty in gen­er­al.” Dzmit­ry plead­ed guilty in court.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 3 years of impris­on­ment under Part 1 Arti­cle 130 of the Crim­i­nal Code (incit­ing social hatred or enmi­ty).

Judge: Yauhen Pis­are­vich

Birth­day: 28 August 1983

Yauhen Merkis, journalist, behind bars since 13 September 2022

Yauhen Merkis, a well-known jour­nal­ist and local his­to­ri­an from Homel, was arrest­ed after a search of his home on Sep­tem­ber 13. It was ini­tial­ly report­ed that the pros­e­cu­tion was relat­ed to encour­ag­ing sanc­tions. Lat­er it became known that he was accused of pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Birth­day: 8 Novem­ber 1986

Pavel Mazheika, journalist, behind bars since 30 August 2022

The head of the Cen­ter for Urban Life in Hrod­na, jour­nal­ist Pavel Mazhei­ka was arrest­ed on 30 August 2022 when he returned to Belarus from abroad. His apart­ment and his par­ents’ house were searched.

Some­time lat­er he was trans­ferred to a pre-tri­al deten­tion cen­ter. Accord­ing to Vias­na HRC, a crim­i­nal case was brought against Pavel for “pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty.”

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Charges: Arti­cle 361–4 of the Crim­i­nal Code (pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty).

Birth­day: 25 May 1978

Ivan Muraujou, journalist, behind bars since 29 August 2022

On 29 August 2022, Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee offi­cers detained Ivan Murau­jou, cam­era­man, pho­tog­ra­ph­er, and own­er of a hookah bar in Min­sk.

On 26 Decem­ber 2022, Min­sk City Court announced the ver­dict: 2.5 years in prison for “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.” Record­ing a video for Bel­sat TV’s inves­ti­ga­tion of Lukashenka’s fam­i­ly served as grounds for pros­e­cu­tion.

The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists lat­er found out that Murau­jou was con­vict­ed for film­ing an inves­ti­ga­tion led by jour­nal­ist Stanis­lau Ivashke­vich, which was broad­cast on the Bel­sat TV chan­nel. The piece titled “Lil­ia Lukashenka’s girl­friend and oli­garchs ben­e­fit­ted from “the case of ortho­pe­dists’” appeared in July 2022.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 2 years 6 months of impris­on­ment under part 3 of Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion).

Judge: Ale­na Shylko

Birth­day: 23 Novem­ber 1978

 

Yury Hladchuk, journalist at Avtobiznes news outlet, behind bars since 16 June 2022

The spe­cial projects edi­tor of the motor trans­port-relat­ed media out­let Avto­biznes (abw.by) was arrest­ed on 16 June 2022 fol­low­ing a raid. He was detained in the crim­i­nal case of group actions gross­ly vio­lat­ing pub­lic order.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized Yury Hlad­chuk as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er. His case was heard in Decem­ber 2022 at the Frun­zen­s­ki Dis­trict Court of Min­sk. He was tried under two arti­cles: Arti­cle 368 (insult­ing Lukashen­ka) and Arti­cle 342 (active par­tic­i­pa­tion in actions gross­ly vio­lat­ing pub­lic order).

Sen­tence: 2.5 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cles 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code (active par­tic­i­pa­tion in actions gross­ly vio­lat­ing pub­lic order) and 368 (insult­ing Lukashen­ka).

Birth­day:  04 April 1989

Aliaksandr Lubianchuk, journalist, behind bars since 26 May 2022

Ali­ak­san­dr Lubianchuk was detained after a search in the vil­lage of Kryvichy, Iwye dis­trict, on 26 May 2022. In addi­tion to jour­nal­ism, he was engaged in char­i­ty work, orga­niz­ing tourist trips and restor­ing the his­tor­i­cal and cul­tur­al her­itage of the Havahru­dak region. The exact charges against him were not known until the tri­al. On 27 Octo­ber 2022, Min­sk City Court pro­nounced its ver­dict: three years of impris­on­ment for “estab­lish­ment of or par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.”

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 3 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (estab­lish­ing or par­tic­i­pat­ing in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion).

Judge: Ale­na Ananich

Birth­day: 1 Sep­tem­ber 1988

Kanstantsin Zalatykh, director of Belarusy i Rynok newspaper, behind bars since 18 May 2022

The direc­tor of the week­ly news­pa­per Belorusy i Rynok was arrest­ed on 18 May 2022 after a search in the edi­to­r­i­al office. In June, a crim­i­nal case was brought against him for alleged incite­ment of hatred. He was charged with sev­er­al polit­i­cal arti­cles, most of which were of a defam­a­to­ry nature, name­ly the pub­lic dis­sem­i­na­tion of infor­ma­tion bring­ing into dis­re­pute the hon­or and dig­ni­ty of a pub­lic offi­cial. On 6 April 2023, he was sen­tenced to four years in prison.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 4 years of impris­on­ment under Part 2 of Arti­cle 130 (incite­ment of racial, nation­al, reli­gious, or oth­er social hatred or enmi­ty), Part 1 of Arti­cle 368 (insult­ing Lukashen­ka), Arti­cle 369 (insult­ing an offi­cial), Part 2 of Arti­cle 426 (abuse of office).

Birth­day: 5 July 1969

Yury Hantsarevich, Intex-Press journalist, behind bars since 27 April 2022

On 29 April 2022, Yury Hantsare­vich, a jour­nal­ist for Baranavichy-based Intex-Press, was sen­tenced to 10 days of admin­is­tra­tive deten­tion. A few days lat­er, pro-regime Telegram chan­nels report­ed that the jour­nal­ist had alleged­ly sent pho­tos of Russ­ian mil­i­tary equip­ment to inde­pen­dent media out­lets deemed “extrem­ist” by the author­i­ties.

On 6 May 2022, Hantsare­vich was accused of “pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty.” The Intex-Press edi­to­r­i­al office was searched.

On 14 July 2022, the jour­nal­ist was sen­tenced to 2.5 years in prison.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized Yury Hantsare­vich as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 2 years and 6 months of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 361–4 of the Crim­i­nal Code (pro­mot­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty).

Judge: Mikalai Hry­harovich

Birth­day: April 12, 1999

Dzmitry Luksha, a correspondent for the Khabar24 TV channel (Kazakhstan), behind bars since 11 March 2022

Dzmit­ry Luk­sha was arrest­ed on 11 March after a search of his apart­ment in Min­sk. His sto­ry on Kaza­khstan’s Khabar 24 TV chan­nel alleged­ly served as a ground for deten­tion. Luk­sha had pre­vi­ous­ly worked for Bel­tel­era­dio­com­pa­ny, where he was the host of the Zona X TV show and was involved in cre­at­ing pro­pa­gan­da pro­grams.

At first, the reporter was accused of alleged­ly insult­ing an offi­cial. Lat­er it became known that he was charged with par­tic­i­pa­tion in mass riots and dis­cred­it­ing the Repub­lic of Belarus.

On 2 Decem­ber 2022, Min­sk City Court sen­tenced Dzmit­ry Luk­sha to four years in prison and a fine of $6,335. His wife Pali­na Palavin­ka was arrest­ed in June 2022 in the same case and got 2.5 years in prison and a fine of $1,270. Cam­era­man Kanstantsin Nikanorau who worked for the same chan­nel was pun­ished with three years of home con­fine­ment and a fine of $1,270.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized Dzmit­ry Luk­sha and Pali­na Palavin­ka as polit­i­cal pris­on­ers.

Sen­tence: 4 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code (orga­ni­za­tion and prepa­ra­tion of, or active par­tic­i­pa­tion in actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order) and Arti­cle 369–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (dis­cred­it­ing the Repub­lic of Belarus).

Judge: Natal­lia Buhuk

Birth­day: 31 July 1989

Siarhei Satsuk, journalist and editor at Ezhednevnik, behind bars since 8 December 2021

A pio­neer of inves­tiga­tive jour­nal­ism in Belarus was arrest­ed on 8 Decem­ber 2021 after his home was searched. He was tak­en for ques­tion­ing by the Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee under Arti­cle 430 of the Crim­i­nal Code (bribe-tak­ing).

On 25 March 2020, Sat­suk had already been arrest­ed in the same case. The human rights orga­ni­za­tions then point­ed to “a polit­i­cal motive behind the pros­e­cu­tion of the jour­nal­ist, aimed at forc­ing him to stop spread­ing infor­ma­tion about cor­rup­tion.” On 4 April 2020, the Gen­er­al Pros­e­cu­tor’s Office of Belarus can­celed the deci­sion to take Siarhei Sat­suk into cus­tody.

In June 2022, it became known that the jour­nal­ist was also accused of incit­ing social hatred (Arti­cle 130 of the Crim­i­nal Code) and abuse of office (Arti­cle 426 of the Crim­i­nal Code). It is not known what spe­cif­ic actions of the edi­tor are relat­ed to the charges.

On 26 Octo­ber 2022, Min­sk City Court sen­tenced Siarhei Sat­suk to 8 years in prison. He was also pun­ished with a fine of $11,100. Accord­ing to the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists, Sat­suk’s sen­tence is an act of revenge for his high-pro­file inves­ti­ga­tions.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized the jour­nal­ist as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 8 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cles 430 (bribe-tak­ing), 130 (incit­ing social hatred or enmi­ty), and 426 of the Crim­i­nal Code (abuse of office).

Judge: Svi­at­lana Ban­daren­ka

Birth­day: 15 April 1968

Andrei Kuznechyk, RFE/RL journalist, behind bars since 25 November 2021

On 25 Novem­ber 2021, Andrei Kuznechyk was arrest­ed near his home; dur­ing a search of his apart­ment mon­ey, dig­i­tal devices, and oth­er items were seized. Kuznechyk was placed in Min­sk tem­po­rary deten­tion cen­ter. He was twice sen­tenced to 10-day deten­tion for “dis­or­der­ly con­duct.”

On 23 Decem­ber 2021, it became known that a crim­i­nal case was brought against the jour­nal­ist. The fam­i­ly and the pub­lic learned the details of the charges only half a year after the arrest.

On 8 June 2022, Mahilou Region­al Court sen­tenced Andrei Kuznechyk to 6 years of impris­on­ment for “estab­lish­ing an extrem­ist for­ma­tion.” The closed tri­al last­ed just for a few hours, the cir­cum­stances of the case are unknown.

The jour­nal­ist did not plead guilty. The day before his deten­tion, Kuznechyk wrote a kind of man­i­festo in which he explained his deci­sion to stay in Belarus, despite the risks.

In Sep­tem­ber 2022, the Min­istry of Inter­nal Affairs put Kuznechyk on the List of Peo­ple Involved in Extrem­ist Activ­i­ty.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized the jour­nal­ist as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 6 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (estab­lish­ing or par­tic­i­pat­ing in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion).

Judge: Ihar Shvedau

Birth­day: 29 Decem­ber 1978

Iryna Slaunikava, journalist for TVP, behind bars since 30 October 2021

Pol­ish TVP jour­nal­ist and for­mer Bel­sat staff mem­ber Iry­na Slau­nika­va and her hus­band were detained at the Min­sk air­port upon return from vaca­tion on 30 Novem­ber 2021. She spent 30 days in deten­tion for alleged­ly stor­ing “extrem­ist con­tent” and “dis­or­der­ly con­duct.”

It lat­er became known that Slau­nika­va was a crim­i­nal sus­pect.

On 3 August 2022, Homel Region­al Court found Slau­nika­va guilty of “orga­niz­ing protest actions” and “lead­er­ship in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion” and sen­tenced her to 5 years in prison, one year more than request­ed by the pros­e­cu­tion.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized her as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 5 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code (orga­ni­za­tion and prepa­ra­tion of, or active par­tic­i­pa­tion in actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order) and Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (estab­lish­ment of or par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion).

Judge: Mikalai Dolia

Pub­lic pros­e­cu­tor: Iry­na Pad­kavyra­va

Birth­day: 12 July 1970

Iryna Leushyna, general director and editor-in-chief at BelaPAN media agency, behind bars since 18 August 2021

Iry­na Leushy­na joined Bela­PAN in Sep­tem­ber 1992 at the invi­ta­tion of the agen­cy’s founder, Ales Lipai. She was edi­tor-in-chief since 2004 and became the com­pa­ny’s direc­tor on 22 Jan­u­ary 2021. In 2018, Leushy­na was pros­e­cut­ed in the “BelTA case”. Jour­nal­ists were accused of unau­tho­rized access to the state agen­cy’s infor­ma­tion.

Despite risk warn­ings, Iry­na Leushy­na decid­ed to stay and work in Belarus. On 18 August 2021, six cur­rent and for­mer Bela­PAN employ­ees were searched as part of the crim­i­nal case for orga­niz­ing and prepar­ing a gross vio­la­tion of pub­lic order. Leushy­na was detained for 72 hours and was nev­er released.

On 6 Octo­ber 2022, Min­sk Region­al Court sen­tenced Leushy­na to 4 years in prison for estab­lish­ing and man­ag­ing an “extrem­ist for­ma­tion.” In her final state­ment, the jour­nal­ist called the charge “com­plete non­sense.”

Human rights activists rec­og­nized her as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 4 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (estab­lish­ing and man­ag­ing an extrem­ist for­ma­tion).

Judge: Viachaslau Tulei­ka

Birth­day: 29 Novem­ber 1965

Dzmitry Navazhylau, former general director of BelaPAN media agency, behind bars since 18 August 2021

In the 1990s, Dzmit­ry Navazhy­lau worked with Pavel Sharemet as an ORT TV chan­nel cor­re­spon­dent in Belarus. He then head­ed the news office of Chan­nel One Rus­sia. Since 2015, he worked with Bela­PAN. When the agen­cy’s founder, Ales Lipai, dis­eased in August 2018, Navazhy­lau became act­ing and then gen­er­al direc­tor. In Jan­u­ary 2021, Navazhy­lau resigned, but he was any­way searched and arrest­ed on 18 August 2021. Navazhy­lau, sus­pect­ed of par­tic­i­pat­ing in group actions vio­lat­ing pub­lic order, was not released after three days in a deten­tion cen­ter.

On 6 Octo­ber 2022, Min­sk Region­al Court sen­tenced Navazhy­lau to 6 years of impris­on­ment for estab­lish­ing and man­ag­ing an “extrem­ist for­ma­tion” and tax eva­sion.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 6 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (estab­lish­ing and man­ag­ing an extrem­ist for­ma­tion) and Arti­cle 243 of the Crim­i­nal Code (tax eva­sion).

Judge: Viachaslau Tulei­ka

Birth­day: 12 August 1972

Valeria Kastsiuhova, political scientist, journalist, behind bars since 30 June 2021

Vale­ria Kast­si­uho­va, founder and long-time edi­tor of the Nashe Mne­nie expert com­mu­ni­ty web­site and author of the Belaru­sian Year­book pub­li­ca­tion, was arrest­ed on 30 June 2021. She was charged with “con­spir­a­cy or oth­er actions aimed at seiz­ing pow­er”, “com­plic­i­ty in crimes” and “encour­ag­ing actions aimed at harm­ing the nation­al secu­ri­ty of Belarus.” The details of the case have not been dis­closed, since the lawyer signed a non-dis­clo­sure state­ment. The ver­dict was hand­ed down on 17 March 2023.

Vale­ria Kast­si­uho­va’s father died while she was in cus­tody. Human rights activists rec­og­nized her as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 10 years of impris­on­ment under Part 1 Arti­cle 357 (con­spir­a­cy or oth­er actions aimed at seiz­ing pow­er) and Part 3 Arti­cle 361 of the Crim­i­nal Code (encour­ag­ing actions aimed at harm­ing the nation­al secu­ri­ty of Belarus).

Judge: Dzi­na Kuchuk

Birth­day: 30 Decem­ber 1967

Maryna Zolatava, TUT.BY editor-in-chief, behind bars since 18 May 2021

The per­ma­nent (since 2004) edi­tor-in-chief of TUT.BY, Mary­na Zolata­va, was arrest­ed on 18 May 2021 along with 14 oth­er defen­dants in the “TUT.BY case”. She was accused of com­plic­i­ty in large-scale tax eva­sion.

All in all, 15 TUT.BY staff mem­bers were remand­ed, includ­ing the edi­to­r­i­al staff, whose work is not con­nect­ed with the eco­nom­ic activ­i­ty of the com­pa­ny, tax pay­ment, or legal aspects. The TUT.BY web­site was blocked for pub­lish­ing “infor­ma­tion pro­hib­it­ed by law.”

On 9 Jan­u­ary 2023, the tri­al began in Min­sk City Court and was held in cam­era. The ver­dict was announced on March 17.

Human rights activists declared Zolata­va a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 12 years of impris­on­ment under Part 2 of Arti­cle 243 (grand tax eva­sion); Part 3 of Arti­cle 130 (incite­ment of racial, nation­al, reli­gious, or oth­er social hatred); Part 3 of Arti­cle 361 (encour­ag­ing actions aimed at harm­ing the nation­al secu­ri­ty of the Repub­lic of Belarus).

Judge: Valiantsi­na Zianke­vich

Pub­lic pros­e­cu­tor: Tat­siana Hrakun

Birth­day: 6 Novem­ber 1977

Ludmila Chekina, TUT.BY General Director, behind bars since 18 May 2021

Lud­mi­la Chek­ina was arrest­ed along with oth­er defen­dants in the “TUY.BY case” on charges of grand tax eva­sion.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized Chek­ina as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 12 years of impris­on­ment under Part 2 of Arti­cle 243 (grand tax eva­sion); Part 3 of Arti­cle 130 (incite­ment of racial, nation­al, reli­gious, or oth­er social hatred); Part 3 of Arti­cle 361 (encour­ag­ing actions aimed at harm­ing the nation­al secu­ri­ty of the Repub­lic of Belarus).

Judge: Valiantsi­na Zianke­vich

Pub­lic pros­e­cu­tor: Tat­siana Hrakun

Birth­day: 13 July 1973

Andrzej Poczobut, journalist, behind bars since 25 March 2021

On 25 March 2021, at the height of the Belaru­sian-Pol­ish diplo­mat­ic con­flict, mem­bers of the offi­cial­ly dis­graced Union of Poles in Belarus were searched in Hrod­na. The Gen­er­al Pros­e­cu­tor’s office brought a crim­i­nal case for “incite­ment of nation­al and reli­gious hatred.” Among the arrest­ed lead­ers of the orga­ni­za­tion was well-known jour­nal­ist Andrzej Poc­zobut, 49. The Union of Poles in Belarus, as well as the Pol­ish gov­ern­ment, stat­ed that the pros­e­cu­tion was “an act of intim­i­da­tion against the entire Pol­ish minor­i­ty in Belarus.” Fol­low­ing the Poc­zobut ver­dict, Poland closed anoth­er Pol­ish-Belaru­sian bor­der cross­ing, Bobrown­i­ki — Beras­tavit­sa.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 8 years of impris­on­ment under Part 3 of Arti­cle 130 of the Crim­i­nal Code (incit­ing nation­al or reli­gious hatred or reha­bil­i­tat­ing Nazism) and under Part 3 of Arti­cle 361 of the Crim­i­nal Code (encour­ag­ing sanc­tions aimed at harm­ing nation­al secu­ri­ty).

Judge: Dzmit­ry Bubenchyk

Birth­day: 16 April 1973

Dzianis Ivashyn, investigative journalist, behind bars since 12 March 2021

Dzia­n­is Ivashyn, vol­un­teer edi­tor of the Inform­Na­palm inter­na­tion­al intel­li­gence com­mu­ni­ty and free­lance cor­re­spon­dent of Novy Chas news­pa­per, was detained by KGB offi­cers on 12 March 2021 in his apart­ment in Hrod­na. The jour­nal­ist has been charged with “obstruct­ing the work of a police­man” and “high trea­son.”

His fam­i­ly believes the deten­tion is con­nect­ed with Ivashyn’s inves­ti­ga­tion into the ser­vice of for­mer Ukrain­ian Berkut offi­cers in the Inte­ri­or Min­istry of Belarus.

On 14 Sep­tem­ber 2022, Dzia­n­is Ivashyn was sen­tenced to 13 years and 1 month in prison and a fine of $9,030.

The jour­nal­ist refused to coop­er­ate with the inves­ti­ga­tion and plead­ed not guilty. In jail, he was sub­ject­ed to all kinds of pres­sure.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er. Ivashyn was award­ed the Order of Paho­nia by the Belaru­sian Peo­ple’s Repub­lic Coun­cil.

Sen­tence: 13 years and 1 month of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 179 of the Crim­i­nal Code (ille­gal col­lec­tion and dis­sem­i­na­tion of infor­ma­tion about pri­vate life) and Arti­cle 356 (high trea­son).

Judge: Valer Ramanous­ki

Birth­day: 6 June 1979

Andrei Aliaksandrau, journalist, behind bars since 12 January 2021

Friends lost con­tact with Andrei Ali­ak­san­drau, 43, on 12 Jan­u­ary 2021. Two days lat­er, it emerged that Andrei and his part­ner Iry­na Zlobi­na were arrest­ed and charged with riot­ing. The Deputy Min­is­ter of Inter­nal Affairs said that they had financed the pro­test­ers, “includ­ing by pay­ing their fines and com­pen­sat­ing deten­tion fees.” Human rights activists claimed that these were legit­i­mate char­i­ta­ble activ­i­ties.

On 30 June 2021, the jour­nal­ist was addi­tion­al­ly charged with “high trea­son.”

For his poems from behind bars, Andrei Ali­ak­san­drau won the Frantsishak Ali­akhovich Prison Lit­er­a­ture Award.

On 1 Sep­tem­ber 2022, Ali­ak­san­drau and Zlobi­na were mar­ried in Min­sk jail.

On 6 Octo­ber 2022, Min­sk Region­al Court sen­tenced Ali­ak­san­drau to 14 years of impris­on­ment on sev­er­al charges, includ­ing “instruct­ing indi­vid­u­als to par­tic­i­pate in riots” and “high trea­son.” Iry­na Zlobi­na was sen­tenced to 9 years of impris­on­ment.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 14 years of impris­on­ment (Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code (prepa­ra­tion of or par­tic­i­pa­tion in actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order), Arti­cle 243 of the Crim­i­nal Code (tax eva­sion), Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (estab­lish­ment of or par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion), Arti­cle 356 of the Crim­i­nal Code (high trea­son)).

Judge: Viachaslau Tulei­ka

Birth­day: 27 Jan­u­ary 1978

Ksenia Lutskina, journalist, behind bars since 22 December 2020

Until the end of August 2020, Kse­nia Lut­ski­na worked as a spe­cial cor­re­spon­dent for the Nation­al State Tele­vi­sion and Radio Com­pa­ny of tBe­larus. Then she par­tic­i­pat­ed in a polit­i­cal strike, resigned in protest, and joined the oppo­si­tion Coor­di­nat­ing Coun­cil. She was arrest­ed on 22 Decem­ber 2020, along with oth­er defen­dants in the “Press Club case”. The orig­i­nal charge was aid­ing and abet­ting tax eva­sion.

Lut­ski­na was not released along with four Press Club mem­bers on 19 August 2021. It became known that a new crim­i­nal case was ini­ti­at­ed against the jour­nal­ist, who refused to write a clemen­cy peti­tion to Lukashen­ka. In prison, the jour­nal­ist’s health prob­lems wors­ened: a brain tumor began to grow and her bronchial asth­ma became more acute.

On 28 Sep­tem­ber 2022, Min­sk City Court sen­tenced Kse­nia to 8 years in prison for “con­spir­a­cy or oth­er actions to take over pow­er.”

Human rights activists rec­og­nized Kse­nia Lut­ski­na as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er. She left behind an under­age son.

Sen­tence: 8 years of impris­on­ment under Part 1 of Arti­cle 357 of the Crim­i­nal Code (con­spir­a­cy or oth­er actions to take over pow­er).

Judge: Tat­siana Falk­ouskaya

Birth­day: 14 Feb­ru­ary

Katsiaryna Andreyeva, Belsat TV journalist, behind bars since 15 November 2020

On 15 Novem­ber 2020, Kat­siary­na Andreye­va (Bakhvala­va) was arrest­ed in an apart­ment on the Square of Change, from where she was broad­cast­ing the protests for the Bel­sat TV chan­nel. Ten SWAT offi­cers broke the door and rushed inside order­ing her to pack her things. Kat­siary­na was not told what she was being arrest­ed for.

Andreye­va was admin­is­tra­tive­ly detained for a week for “par­tic­i­pa­tion in an unau­tho­rized pub­lic assem­bly and dis­obe­di­ence to the police.” She plead­ed not guilty and accused the police offi­cers who drew up the report of giv­ing false tes­ti­mo­ny. She was lat­er accused of orga­niz­ing and prepar­ing actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order.

On 18 Feb­ru­ary 2021, she was sen­tenced to two years of impris­on­ment.

On 10 Feb­ru­ary 2022, Kat­siary­na was trans­ferred back to jail and charged with “high trea­son.” On 13 July 2022, Aleh Kharosh­ka, a judge of Homel Region­al Court, sen­tenced the jour­nal­ist to 8 years and 3 months of impris­on­ment.

The jour­nal­ist was rec­og­nized as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er. Andreye­va was award­ed the Order of Paho­nia by the Belaru­sian Peo­ple’s Repub­lic Coun­cil.

Sen­tence: 2 years of impris­on­ment under 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code (orga­ni­za­tion and prepa­ra­tion of actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order) and 8 years and 3 months of impris­on­ment under Arti­cle 356 of the Crim­i­nal Code (high trea­son).

Judges: Natal­lia Buhuk (first sen­tence), Aleh Kharosh­ka (sec­ond sen­tence).

Birth­day: 2 Novem­ber 1993

Ihar Losik, RFE/RL Belarus journalist, behind bars since 25 June 2020

Ihar Losik was arrest­ed on June 25 in his home in Baranavichy. His apart­ment was searched and the jour­nal­ist was escort­ed to Min­sk, where he was charged with “prepa­ra­tion for vio­la­tion of pub­lic order.”

He went on hunger strike for 41 days (from 15 Decem­ber 2020 to 25 Jan­u­ary 2021) to protest against the new charges of prepa­ra­tion to par­tic­i­pate in mass riots.

On 14 Decem­ber 2021, in a closed ses­sion held inside the jail, the Homel Region­al Court sen­tenced Losik to 15 years of impris­on­ment. Com­ment­ing on the ver­dict, Ihar said that there was not a sin­gle expert report or pub­li­ca­tion prov­ing his guilt on the charges brought against him.

His 4‑year-old daugh­ter, Pauli­na, is wait­ing for him on the out­side.

On 18 Octo­ber 2022, law enforcers detained Ihar’s wife, Daria Losik, who fought for her hus­band’s release. She was accused of “facil­i­tat­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ties.” Daria Losik was sen­tenced to two years of impris­on­ment. Judge: Mikalai Hry­harovich.

On 4 Novem­ber 2022, the Inte­ri­or Min­istry includ­ed Losik in the List of Per­sons Involved in Extrem­ist Activ­i­ties.

The human rights activists rec­og­nized Ihar and Daria Losiks as polit­i­cal pris­on­ers. Ihar and Daria were award­ed the Order of Paho­nia by the Belaru­sian Peo­ple’s Repub­lic Coun­cil.

Sen­tence: 15 years of impris­on­ment under Part 1 of Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code (prepa­ra­tion for gross vio­la­tion of pub­lic order) and Part 2 of Arti­cle 293 (prepa­ra­tion for par­tic­i­pa­tion in mass riots).

Judge: Mikalai Dolia

Pub­lic pros­e­cu­tor: Dzia­n­is Mikushau

Birth­day: 20 May 1992

 

Copy­right ©2022 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the per­mis­sion of Radio Free Europe/Radio Lib­er­ty, 1201 Con­necti­cut Ave NW, Ste 400, Wash­ing­ton DC 20036.

 

Ihar Karnei, journalist, behind bars since 17 July 2023.

Ihar Karnei,
jour­nal­ist,
behind bars from July 17, 2023

Ihar Kar­ney is a for­mer cor­re­spon­dent of Radio Svabo­da, cov­ered life and events in Belarus on our radio waves and web­site for more than 20 years. He is an essay­ist, the author of texts about the cul­tur­al and his­tor­i­cal her­itage of Belarus and reports from numer­ous trav­els around the world.

After the destruc­tion of the Radio Svabo­da office in Min­sk by the author­i­ties, he remained in Belarus and coop­er­at­ed with the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists.

For this, Ihar was detained on July 17, 2023. Hous­es were searched. The tri­al of the jour­nal­ist began on March 19, 2024 in the Min­sk City Court. Ihar Karnei was tried for coop­er­a­tion with the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists, which was rec­og­nized as an “extrem­ist orga­ni­za­tion” in Belarus. On March 22, 2024, Karnei was sen­tenced to 3 years in colony, and he was also fined 20,000 rubles (about 6500 euros).

Ihar Karnei is rec­og­nized as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Birth­day: 1 Jan­u­ary 1968

Andrei Tolchyn, journalist and videographer, behind bars since 27 September 2023.

Tolchyn is an inde­pen­dent jour­nal­ist and pub­lic fig­ure from Homel. He was once a mem­ber of the Homel City Coun­cil in 1990. In addi­tion, he estab­lished the Homel City pub­li­ca­tion Gomel­skiye Vesti.

He was tak­en into cus­tody on 27 Sep­tem­ber 2023. His home in Homel was searched the next day, Sep­tem­ber 28, and com­put­er equip­ment was seized. Lat­er it was dis­cov­ered that he was charged with incit­ing actions that may harm the nation­al secu­ri­ty of the Repub­lic of Belarus.

Andrei Tolchyn has been detained on mul­ti­ple occa­sions and put on tri­al for jour­nal­is­tic activ­i­ties from 2017 onwards. He was arrest­ed before a protest march in Sep­tem­ber 2020, along with jour­nal­ist Larysa Shchyrako­va. Tolchyn received five days of deten­tion and went on a hunger strike dur­ing his time behind bars.

He was then detained in 2021 for alleged­ly vio­lat­ing the mass media law in the Tsikhanous­ki case. As a result, his video equip­ment was seized and he was fined $250.

Fol­low­ing the 2020 events, Tolchyn quit the pro­fes­sion. Short­ly before his most recent arrest, his sis­ter passed away. Andrei had been look­ing after her dur­ing her ill­ness.

Charges: Part 3 Arti­cle 361 of the Crim­i­nal Code (encour­ag­ing actions aimed at harm­ing the nation­al secu­ri­ty of Belarus)

Birth­day: 13 July 1959

Yauhen Hlushkou, journalist, videographer, behind bars since 5 January 2024

Yauhen Hlushk­ou is a for­mer Mahilou-based jour­nal­ist and video­g­ra­ph­er. He worked with munic­i­pal tele­vi­sion and then with sev­er­al city news out­lets in the 1990s and 2000s.

Hlushk­ou last con­tact­ed his friends on 4 Jan­u­ary 2024. After that, he did not appear at home and the con­tact with him was lost. Friends assume that Hlushk­ou was detained on Jan­u­ary 4 or 5. Neigh­bors saw him being tak­en out of the house by the police. Yauhen lived alone and had not been in con­tact with his wife and son recent­ly. The inves­ti­ga­tor informed his wife that Hlushk­ou was under inves­ti­ga­tion. The offi­cers forced Hlushk­ou to record a video where he says that he col­lab­o­rat­ed with the 6tv.by media out­let. This media has been declared an “extrem­ist for­ma­tion” in Belarus.

A wave of arrests and search­es of Mahilou jour­nal­ists took place in Decem­ber 2023. They were inter­ro­gat­ed by the KGB when the Mogilev.Media and 6TV Bielarus were rec­og­nized as “extrem­ist for­ma­tions”.

In May 2018, Hlushk­ou was fined $370 for “cre­ation of media prod­ucts with­out press cre­den­tials.”

Accord­ing to May­Day Team human rights activists, Hlushk­ou was arrest­ed dur­ing a raid on his home because he would­n’t open the door to secu­ri­ty forces. He was dragged out­side in his home clothes. Accord­ing to some reports, a crim­i­nal case was opened for his jour­nal­is­tic activ­i­ties. The alleged charge is “cre­ation or par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion” (Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code).

Human rights activists rec­og­nized Yauhen Hlushk­ou as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Charges: Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (cre­ation or par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion)

Birth­day: 11 Decem­ber 1968

Ales Sabaleuski, blogger, freelancer, behind bars since 12 December 2023

Ales Sabaleus­ki is a for­mer Mahilou blog­ger and jour­nal­ist who has worked with sev­er­al inde­pen­dent region­al pub­li­ca­tions. He ran a YouTube chan­nel cov­er­ing cul­tur­al and social life in Mahilou.

The blog­ger was arrest­ed on the morn­ing of Decem­ber 12, 2023 in Mahilou. He was vis­it­ed by the police at the rental office where he worked A few days ear­li­er, mul­ti­ple Mahilou jour­nal­ists had been arrest­ed and searched. They were inter­ro­gat­ed by the KGB when the Mahilou.Media and 6TV Bielarus were rec­og­nized as “extrem­ist for­ma­tions”.

Sabaleus­ki was ini­tial­ly detained for 10 days on unknown charges. Then anoth­er admin­is­tra­tive report was drawn up against him – for dis­trib­ut­ing “extrem­ist” mate­ri­als (Arti­cle 19.11 of the Admin­is­tra­tive Offens­es Code). How­ev­er, even after the sec­ond admin­is­tra­tive deten­tion that end­ed on Jan­u­ary 6, he was not released.

Accord­ing to the May­day Team Telegram chan­nel, run by Mahilou jour­nal­ists and human rights activists, Ales Sabaleus­ki may have been trans­ferred to a pre-tri­al deten­tion cen­ter.

In Jan­u­ary 2021, Sabaleus­ki was already searched. At that time, the edi­to­r­i­al office of the Mahilous­ki Rehi­jon web­site and the homes of sev­er­al region­al jour­nal­ists were raid­ed. The equip­ment seized dur­ing the search­es was not returned to the jour­nal­ists until Octo­ber 2022.

Accord­ing to Ales Sabaleuski’s cell­mates, he was beat­en dur­ing inter­ro­ga­tions, and bruis­es were vis­i­ble on his body.

Human rights activists sug­gest that Ales Sabaleuski’s crim­i­nal pros­e­cu­tion may be linked to the fact that region­al media, includ­ing the YouTube chan­nel 6TV Belarus and the Mahilou.Media web­site, were deemed “extrem­ist for­ma­tions.”

Ales Sabaleus­ki was rec­og­nized as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Charges: unknown

Birth­day: 15 Decem­ber 1967

Aliaksandr Ziankou, freelance photographer, behind bars since 22 June 2023

Ali­ak­san­dr Ziank­ou has been work­ing as a free­lance pho­tog­ra­ph­er since 1998. He col­lab­o­rat­ed with local inde­pen­dent pub­li­ca­tions. At some point, he became so engrossed in video­tap­ing that he began cre­at­ing doc­u­men­taries. In 2015, the Mag­ni­fi­cat Fes­ti­val of Chris­t­ian Films and Tele­vi­sion Pro­grams jury rec­og­nized his film about the restora­tion of the church in Zem­bin vil­lage. Recent­ly, Ali­ak­san­dr trav­eled a lot and pho­tographed land­scapes, nature, birds, and archi­tec­tur­al mon­u­ments. In Decem­ber 2022, he orga­nized a per­son­al pho­to exhi­bi­tion.

Ziank­ou was detained on 22 June 2023 at his home in Barysau. The flat was searched, and com­put­er equip­ment was seized. The pho­tog­ra­ph­er was tak­en into cus­tody in Min­sk. He is accused of “par­tic­i­pat­ing in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion” (part 3 of Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code).

The police had arrest­ed Ziank­ou before, but he was nev­er pros­e­cut­ed. In July 2020, he was among 47 jour­nal­ists and pho­tog­ra­phers who were detained in Min­sk and released after an ID check. In Sep­tem­ber 2020, the police vis­it­ed the pho­tog­ra­ph­er and warned him not to vio­late any laws.

On 12 Jan­u­ary 2024, Ziank­ou’s tri­al began in the Min­sk City Court. The case was con­sid­ered by Judge Zhan­na Brysi­na. On Jan­u­ary 30, the court sen­tenced him to 3 years of impris­on­ment.

Ali­ak­san­dr Ziank­ou was rec­og­nized as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 3 years of impris­on­ment under part 3 Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code (par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion)

Judge: Zhan­na Brysi­na

Birth­day: 12 Novem­ber 1968