Political persecutions

Sergei, a former paratrooper and co-founder of the organization "Paspalitae Rushenne", was detained for participating in protests and sentenced to administrative arrest. He was subsequently forced to leave Belarus due to the criminal prosecution.

Popular Belarusian blogger and creator of the YouTube channel "Country for Life" Sergei expressed a desire to run for president. However, before the start of the election campaign, he was arrested for organizing an unauthorized event. His wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, submitted documents to the Central Election Commission by proxy, but Sergei was not registered as a candidate due to the lack of his signature. Subsequently, Svetlana herself was registered as a candidate. After his release, Sergei became her trusted person and participated in collecting signatures.

On May 29, 2020, he was detained again during a picket in Grodno and later convicted under several criminal articles, including "organizing mass riots" and "inciting hatred." According to human rights activists, the defendants in the "case" are required to pay compensation in the amount of 29 million rubles.

In August 2022, the court transferred Sergei to prison regime. In February 2023, he was convicted again for "malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of a correctional institution" - an article applied to prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the administration, including for fictitious violations. As a result, another year and a half of imprisonment was added to his 18-year sentence.

On June 21, 2025, Sergey was released following a visit to Minsk by U.S. President Donald Trump's special representative, Keith Kellogg, and was immediately taken to Lithuania.

Igor, a consultant for Radio Liberty and administrator of the "Belarus of the Brain" Telegram channel, was arrested on June 25, 2020, on charges of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order." However, he was later convicted of "organizing mass riots" as part of the Tikhanovsky criminal case.

According to human rights activists, the defendants in the case are required to pay compensation in the amount of 29 million rubles.

On September 11, 2025, it was announced that 52 political prisoners of the Belarusian regime had been forcibly transferred to Lithuania. Among them were citizens of European countries. Igor Losik was among those released.

Danila was detained in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place on September 13, 2020 in Brest, where people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. He was convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order." According to the prosecution, the downtime of the trolleybus and bus depots caused damage in the amount of about 660 Belarusian rubles.

He was released on October 23, 2021, having fully served his sentence, and deported to the Russian Federation.

Arseniy was detained in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place on September 13, 2020 in Brest, where people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. He was convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order." According to the prosecution, the downtime of the trolleybus and bus depots caused damage in the amount of about 660 Belarusian rubles.

In December 2024, it became known that a court hearing in absentia was held regarding Arseniy to replace the restriction of freedom with imprisonment in a penal colony.

Roman was detained in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place on September 13, 2020 in Brest, where people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. He was convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order." According to the prosecution, the downtime of the trolleybus and bus depots caused damage in the amount of about 660 Belarusian rubles.

Vadim was detained and convicted for breaking the window of a bus carrying police officers during a protest that took place on August 10, 2020 in Bereza.

In September 2021, he was pardoned: his sentence was replaced with “house arrest”.

Timur was detained in a criminal case opened after the protests on August 10, 2020 in Brest against election fraud. Returning from work, he was shot with rubber bullets five times. The investigator explained the measure of restraint by the lack of Belarusian citizenship, although Timur has lived in the country with a residence permit for about 23 years. He was convicted of participating in "mass riots", and according to the case materials, the total damage amounted to more than 27 thousand Belarusian rubles.

In June 2023, human rights activists learned that Timur spent more than 100 days in a punishment cell, after which he was transferred to a punishment cell, and then to prison regime.

In July 2024, he was re-convicted for “malicious disobedience to the colony administration.”

On September 11, 2025, it became known that 52 prisoners of the Belarusian regime were forcibly transferred to the territory of Lithuania. Among them are citizens of European countries. Among those released is Timur Rizapur.

Elena was detained in a criminal case initiated due to protests and clashes between Pinsk residents and security forces on the night of August 9-10, 2020. She was convicted of participating in "mass riots." The victims in the case were 109 police officers and officials, who, in addition to imprisonment, demanded about 530 thousand rubles in compensation from the accused.

It is known that Elena is subjected to physical and psychological violence, she has been deprived of all parcels and meetings with loved ones. She regularly receives disciplinary punishments and is in a depressed psychological state. She has also been deprived of parental rights.

On February 12, 2025, with the help of the US State Department, Elena Movshuk , journalist Andrei Kuznechik and a US citizen whose name has not yet been disclosed were released. They were pardoned by Lukashenko. The condition for Elena's release was leaving Belarus. On the eve of her release, she was transferred from Colony No. 24 to the KGB pretrial detention center, from where the next day she was taken with a mask over her eyes to the border with Lithuania.

Details of the release were revealed to CNN by Chris Smith, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs.

"It was a special operation: we crossed the Belarusian border, met with government officials in Minsk, who handed over three detainees to us. We picked them up and took them through Lithuania."

Smith said it was a "unilateral gesture" by Belarusian authorities seeking to improve relations with the United States.

"Lukashenko received nothing in return," he noted.

Galina was detained on December 10, 2020, as part of the criminal "Avtukhovich case", which the authorities declared "the organizer of a terrorist group". She was accused of participating in a "terrorist organization" involved in arson of police officers' property. During the investigation, Galina was constantly threatened and forced to incriminate herself. She wrote complaints to the prosecutor's office, but received no answers, and was also subjected to harsh conditions in a punishment cell, which led to her losing consciousness several times. She was convicted of "participation in a criminal organization", "act of terrorism" and "attempted seizure of power".

In the spring of 2024, Galina and two other defendants in the “case” were ordered to pay compensation for damage to the police officers’ property in the amount of more than 40 thousand rubles.

On September 11, 2025, it became known that 52 prisoners of the Belarusian regime were forcibly transferred to the territory of Lithuania. Among them are citizens of European countries. Among those released is Galina Derbysh.

A family friend of presidential candidate Viktor Babariko and the coordinator of his initiative group in one of the districts of Minsk was detained on June 11, 2020, on charges of tax evasion.

On October 12, 2021, Svetlana's preventive measure was changed to a written undertaking not to leave the country.

The coordinator of Viktor Babariko’s initiative group was detained on June 18, 2020, on charges of tax evasion.

On October 12, 2021, the preventive measure for Dmitry was changed to a written undertaking not to leave.

He was allegedly arrested on January 19, 2021 and later convicted for a comment on Telegram.

Ukrainian citizen Mikhail was detained on September 16, 2020 and spent seven months in the temporary detention facility on Okrestina. He was charged with participating in three marches and organizing protest activities through the Telegram channel "Brave People", including writing protest inscriptions and hanging white-red-white ribbons.

He was released on December 16, 2023, after serving his full sentence, but was immediately arrested again in Mogilev.

Released on February 1, 2024, Mikhail was forced to leave Belarus.

Vadim, an architect, was detained and beaten during a memorial event for Roman Bondarenko on Change Square on November 15, 2020, and hospitalized with injuries. He pleaded not guilty, saying that participating in the event was his civic duty, and was convicted of “participating in group actions that grossly violate public order.”

Left Belarus before starting to serve his sentence.

On March 15, 2024, a “special case” was opened against Vadim, and in the summer he was charged in absentia with “conspiracy to seize power,” “assisting extremist activity,” and “creating an extremist group.”