Political prisoners

Evgeny was charged under 9 articles of the Criminal Code. The reason for this was comments in Telegram and sending 0.28 and 0.004 bitcoins to the administrators of Telegram channels.

In addition, from December 2019 to January 2020, he purchased particularly dangerous psychotropic substances, and on the territory of Russia (in the Bryansk region) he bought a firearm – a Makarov pistol (PM) and at least 46 cartridges for it.

The trial lasted from February 14 to June 2, almost four months.

Yevgeny partially admitted his guilt, explained that he did not agree with the results of the presidential elections in Belarus, and that is why he decided to act actively.

Sergei was arrested in August 2021 on politically motivated terrorism charges for his non-violent activities. He reportedly communicated with Interior Ministry officers to persuade them to refuse to carry out criminal orders, and also helped those who were leaving the service and feared persecution.

According to the indictment, from July 2020 to January 2022, "an organized criminal group operated in Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine and other countries with the goal of committing extremist crimes. The group included radical individuals, including former and current military personnel, law enforcement officers, athletes and businessmen, who sought to seize power illegally." The case involves charges of attempted arson of the home of MP Oleg Gaidukevich in June 2021 and "organizing mass riots."

Sergei was convicted under numerous criminal articles to a long term of imprisonment, the first five of which were prison terms. He was also stripped of his military rank.

Nikita Storozhenko is a former detective. He resigned after the presidential elections of Belarus in 2020 in protest against the current government. After his dismissal, Nikita worked as a lawyer.

He was detained on April 23, 2021 for "unauthorized picketing", convicted and sentenced to 15 days in prison according to Article part 1 of Article 24.23 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. He was released on May 8, 2021.

On May 4, 2021, Storozhenko, like other law enforcement officials who resigned in protest, was deprived of the rank of senior lieutenant of justice reserve by Lukashenka.

Nikita was detained again on February 1, 2022 in a shopping center in Minsk. In a video posted on the telegram channel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he says that he transferred the contacts of two employees of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption and the deputy head of the Investigative Committee for Minsk to one of the "protest telegram channels".

The trial took place on November 15, 2022 in the Minsk City Court. Nikita was tried for "inciting other social enmity and discord" under Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, as well as for "illegal collection and dissemination of information about private life" (Part 1 of Article 179 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus).

On December 2, 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in a high-security penal colony. he is also obliged to pay a fine of 5 000 BYN (2 056 USD) as moral compensation to employees, whose data, according to the prosecution, he transmitted to the "protest telegram channel".

On December 20, 2020, Vasily saw a news story on Telegram about a police officer yelling at children at a Belarusian school, using obscene language. In response, a Pinsk resident posted a joke in the comments section of the "Punisher Belarus" Telegram channel, which had previously aired on the KVN (Club of the Funny and Inventive) program. It was a paraphrase of a famous children's song, "Let Them Run Clumsily," from the cartoon about Cheburashka and Crocodile Gena. The KVN version had a different chorus. The comment read: "Lera is a bitch at work, and she's a bitch at home, too, because Lera only has sex once a year."

Immediately after the verdict, Vasily left the country. On October 16, 2025, Vasily was detained in St. Petersburg. He is on the international wanted list.

Detained for drawing using stencils of "Chase".

Anatoly Latushka is the cousin of politician Pavel Latushko.

On March 22, 2024, he was transferred to prison regime until the end of his term.

17-year-old Yelisey was accused of throwing a bottle with a flammable mixture at a police car. For violations of "house chemistry" Yelisey's punishment was increased to imprisonment and Yelisey was taken into custody on April 20, 2022 and since May 27 the young man has been in the colony.

12/17/2022 released after serving the full sentence imposed by the court.

He was arrested again in May 2023 and convicted in August for tearing down, together with a friend, three state flags installed on the facades of an educational institution, a retail facility, and a post office in the agro-town of Voyskaya in the Kamenets district.

On December 18 , 2024 , the Borisovsky District Court will hear Yelisey’s case under Part 1 of Article 411 (malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of a correctional institution ).

Oleg, the owner of the YouTube channel "Third Region Belarus," was detained in January 2022 when he returned to Belarus for the New Year holidays.

Oleg was accused of de-anonymizing security officials and, while abroad, allegedly continuing to "post anti-state information on social media and promote resistance to government officials." On his channel, he published videos of Belarusian solidarity protests in Kyiv, where he had lived since 2020. He was also accused of making "cynical comments" about deceased KGB officer Dmitry Fedosyuk.

In September 2022, he was convicted under several articles of the Criminal Code, including "inciting racial, national, religious, or other social hatred or discord." The court sentenced him to imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony and ordered him to pay substantial compensation.

In July 2023, Oleg was convicted again of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the prison administration"—a charge often applied to political prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the prison administration. In September of that year, it was reported that he had been transferred to a prison regime.

It was revealed that Oleg faced another court hearing in the first half of summer 2025 under the same charge of "insubordination." The appeal hearing was scheduled for mid-July.

Artyom enjoys music and fishing, and is inquisitive and knowledgeable in many areas. He studies English and German. He always knew he would live in Germany. He loves Rammstein, has been listening to them since childhood, and knows many of their songs by heart.

He was arrested on January 12, 2022, in connection with a criminal case involving "group actions grossly violating public order," "illegal collection and dissemination of personal data," "calls for actions aimed at harming national security," and "aiding and abetting incitement of hatred."

In September 2022, he was found guilty of participating in two post-election protests in Minsk in 2020, as well as developing a barcode scanning program to boycott companies that supported the regime.

68-year-old Boris Vitko was accused of writing an offensive comment regarding judge Nikolai Kmita on September 30, 2021, in the Lyakhovichi 97 telegram channel.

Court verdict 01/20/2023: 2 years of restriction of freedom without direction.

At the end of May 2023, it became known that Boris was detained again. This was reported by the pro-government telegram channel. Riot police officers in bulletproof vests with shotguns detained a man on the territory of a private house. In the published video, Boris says that he was detained on suspicion of insulting Lukashenko (Article 368 of the Criminal Code). A search was conducted at the place of residence in the village of Medvedichi, Lyakhovichi district.

Later, human rights activists learned that for some time Boris Vitko was held in the Lyakhovichi temporary detention center, then transferred to the Baranovichi pre-trial detention center. He is now in pre-trial detention center No. 7 in Brest awaiting trial. In November 2023, Boris was added to the list of terrorists. The trial began in early January 2024. At the first trial, Boris Vitko was charged with the fact that on September 30, 2021, in the telegram channel “Lyakhovichi 97” he wrote an offensive comment regarding judge Nikolai Kmita. Based on the totality of sentences, by partial addition of the unserved part of the sentence, the finally accused Boris Vitko was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of seven years and three months, to be served in a correctional colony under a high security regime, with a fine to the state in the amount of 300 basic units in the amount of 12,000 rubles .

Boris has heart problems and must constantly take medication.

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.

He is a fitness trainer from Soligorsk.

According to the case file, in January 2021 Gavrilov purchased and provided aerosol cans with paint to two acquaintances — Tatiana and Oleg Birulya. After that, Tatiana and Oleg, from January to February 2021, applied inscriptions and drawings to various infrastructure facilities in Soligorsk, carrying out their damage.

In August 2021, Gavrilov, through agreements, including for material remuneration, involved another acquaintance, Sergei Pasyuk, in engaging in extremist activities.

Then, from August to December 2021, the defendants distributed leaflets and other printed materials on the territory of Soligorsk. The examination of the contents of the «Honest Newspaper», with copies of which the coach was detained, testified that Gavrilov was allegedly involved in inciting racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord committed by a group of persons.

Founder of the Symbal.by store, cultural manager.

He was arrested on November 15, 2021, after being summoned to the police station. Subsequently, Pavel was sentenced three times on administrative charges (for 15, 13, and 7 days), and then transferred to a pretrial detention facility for the criminal case.

He served his sentence in Penal Colony No. 17.

In February 2026, Pavel was transferred to ST No. 4 , without his belongings and without a tag. According to former political prisoners , it is possible that a new case has been opened against him.