Political prisoners

A social activist from Minsk.

She was detained on February 17, 2022 at her place of residence. Her house was searched.

At first, she was sentenced to administrative arrest, but after the end of the arrest, Anastasia did not go free.

The activist of the "European Belarus" was detained on December 30, 2021 in a criminal case on group actions that grossly violate public order.

On January 7, 2022, the woman was transferred to a pre-trial detention facility.

Elena has a little son.

In January 2023, Elena was transferred to Gomel Women's Colony No. 4. For a long time, a lawyer could not get to the political prisoner; she was placed in a punishment cell.

In October 2023, it became known that Elena's parcel was not accepted in August. This most likely indicates that she was deprived of parcels. The last letter from Elena arrived in early September, and there have been no letters from her since then. Since Lazarchik's transfer to the colony, permission has never been received from the institution's administration to meet with a lawyer. What is happening to Elena now, what condition she is in, is unknown. Elena has problems with her teeth in the colony, and she has lost weight.

In mid-November 2023, human rights activists learned that Elena had been placed in solitary confinement again.

According to the testimony of the former political prisoner, Elena served more than 90 days in a punishment cell and more than 60 days in a PKT .

In the spring of 2025, Elena was convicted under Part 2 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the legal demands of the colony administration) and sentenced to another year and a half in prison in addition to eight years of imprisonment. It is unknown when the sentence was handed down . It is known that Elena refused the services of a lawyer at the trial.

Detained together with her mother.

The apartment was searched under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. Then the article of accusation was reclassified to Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

He is previously accused of distributing personal data of Interior Ministry employees.

Detained together with her daughter.

The apartment was searched under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. Then the article of accusation was reclassified to Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

He is previously accused of distributing personal data of Interior Ministry employees.

A resident of Vitebsk.

The girl was charged under Article 130 of the Criminal Code (Inciting social hostility) for transmitting the data of security forces, teachers, judges to the telegram channel «Chernaya kniga Belarusi» («Black Book of Belarus»).

Detained on November 1, 2021 in St. Petersburg for the events in Belarus. In Russia, she worked as a waitress and lived in two countries. The last time the girl was at home about a year ago. According to the investigation, from September 2020 to November 2021, the suspect administered three Telegram channels. In May 2022, the Russian court refused to grant Belarusian Yana Pinchuk temporary asylum in Russia.

On August 9, 2022, she was extradited from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Belarus despite the ban on extradition by the UN Human Rights Committee.

Anna, a Belarusian Railways employee, was detained in the fall of 2021 as part of a criminal case brought against factory employees who supported the strike and were part of the "Rabochy Rukh" (Workers' Movement) initiative. On September 21, 2021, this initiative was designated an extremist organization, following which mass arrests of workers took place across the country.

In February 2023, Anna was found guilty of treason and the creation of and participation in an extremist group and sentenced to imprisonment.

Anastasia was detained in August 2021 as part of a criminal case initiated under the article “act of terrorism”, and in June 2023 she was convicted under several criminal articles.

According to the indictment, from July 2020 to January 2022, an "organized criminal group" allegedly preparing extremist crimes operated in Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine and other countries. It included radical military personnel, security officials, athletes and businessmen who sought to seize power illegally. This case is related to the attempted arson of the house of MP Oleg Gaidukevich in June 2021 and the "organization of mass riots."

Olga was detained in August 2021 as part of a criminal case initiated under the article "act of terrorism" and convicted in June 2023 under several criminal articles.

According to the indictment, from July 2020 to January 2022, an "organized criminal group" allegedly preparing extremist crimes operated in Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine and other countries. It included radical military personnel, security officials, athletes and businessmen who sought to seize power illegally. This case is related to the attempted arson of the house of MP Oleg Gaidukevich in June 2021 and the "organization of mass riots."

Natalia was arrested in June 2021 on suspicion of planning to set fire to logging equipment. The arrest took place in the evening right on the forestry farm grounds, where she allegedly arrived with her accomplice, Gordeyev, who was actually on assignment from state security agencies.

According to the prosecution, on the evening of June 8, 2021, Natalia and this man prepared Molotov cocktails, which they planned to use to set fire to the equipment. However, the crime was not completed—Natalia was detained before the arson could be committed.

In court, Natalia testified that she had found herself in a difficult situation: in August 2020, an acquaintance of hers was arrested, she had lost her father, and was experiencing difficulties at work. She also confirmed that she had indeed been a member of the "OGSB" chat group and had intended to destroy logging equipment at the forestry enterprise.

In December 2022, she was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a general regime penal colony with a large fine.

Tatyana is a co-founder of the Sympa school for young public administration managers, an expert in the Bipart research project, and a Master of Political Science.

She was detained in Minsk on the night of June 28-29, 2021, at the airport while going through passport control to leave the country. It is known that Tatyana was going to fly on a night flight to Tbilisi. It later became known that she was detained in connection with an initiated criminal case. Tatyana was taken to the temporary detention facility on Okrestina, and a few days later transferred to a pretrial detention center.

On February 6, 2023, the court began considering her case on charges of "aiding actions aimed at seizing power," "calling for actions that harm national security," and "inciting social hatred." On March 17 of the same year, the court sentenced Tatyana in a closed session to 10 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.

Valeria is a political scientist, founder and editor of the website of the expert community "Our Opinion", author and editor of the "Belarusian Yearbook", head of the group of experts for monitoring "Belarus in Focus".

On June 30, 2021, after a search of her home by KGB officers, Valeria was detained and placed in an isolation ward, later transferred to a pre-trial detention center.

On February 6, 2023, the court began considering her case on charges of "aiding actions aimed at seizing power," "calling for actions that harm national security," and "inciting social hatred." On March 17, 2023, the court sentenced Valeria in a closed session to 10 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.

Lyudmila is the former CEO of TUT.BY. She worked at TUT.BY since 2008: first as a legal adviser, later as a director. In 2017, she headed Tut By Media.

In May 2021, she was arrested in connection with a criminal case opened on charges of tax evasion.

In October 2022, the KGB added Lyudmila to a list of those “involved in terrorist activities.” She was later also charged with “inciting hatred” and “calling for actions against national security.”

The trial was held behind closed doors and lasted more than two months - 37 sessions in total. In March 2023, Lyudmila was sentenced to a long prison term and a large fine.

Ekaterina, a journalist for the Belsat TV channel, was reporting live from the courtyard of the Square of Change, where peaceful protesters gathered for a protest rally in Minsk on November 15, 2020, under the slogan "I'm coming out." These were the last words of Raman Bondarenko, who was killed by security forces, and those gathered came to honor his memory. Ekaterina was detained along with her colleague Darya Chultsova during the violent dispersal of the rally and was later convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order."

In April 2022, a new criminal case was opened against Ekaterina, and in July of the same year she was convicted again, accused of “treason” and sentenced to eight years in prison three months before the end of her first sentence.