Political prisoners

Marina has been the editor-in-chief of TUT.BY since 2004 and is known for her interest in Balkan culture and knowledge of the Bulgarian language.

In 2019, she was fined in a criminal case under the article on “inaction of an official” for accessing BelTA materials; human rights activists recognized this case as politically motivated.

In May 2021, she was arrested on charges of tax evasion, but the charges were later dropped.

In October 2022, the KGB added Marina to the 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, with 37 hearings in total. In March 2023, she was sentenced to a long prison term.

Andrey, a maxillofacial surgeon at a children's hospital, was detained in May 2021 after a search as part of a criminal case opened under the article on "insulting the president." His wife and children were forced to leave the country. Andrey was later charged with "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" and "participation in mass riots."

In April 2022, Andrei was convicted on four criminal charges for participating in protests that took place in Minsk in 2020 and for publications on social networks that were classified as insults and incitement of hatred.

In June 2024, his sentence was increased and he was transferred to prison until the end of his term.

Vladislav, a blogger, poet and writer, was arrested in April 2021 and convicted a year later of fraud for promising more than 100 people in 2015–2016 to take part in Belarus’s first reality shows, but failing to keep his promise. He was also found guilty of participating in three Marches in 2020 and organizing protests via Instagram. Vladislav himself only admitted to participating in the rallies.

In October 2022, he was convicted again for insulting Lukashenko in a poem included in an appeal against the verdict.

On the portal of the online store Ridero.ru, under the pseudonym Vlad Savinn, his books are presented - the story "Ambidextrous" and the collection of poems "Poetry Through", available in printed and electronic form.

Since 2020, Elena has been subjected to systematic persecution for political reasons: she has been detained and arrested under administrative articles 17 times, and has been fined a total of 173 basic units. Her home has been searched several times.

In May 2021, Elena was convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order" in a criminal case opened after a protest on September 13, 2020 in Brest, where participants sang songs and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. According to the prosecution, the protest disrupted the operation of transport. She was sentenced to restriction of freedom without being sent to an institution.

In September of the same year, Elena was convicted again for “insulting Lukashenko.” The combined sentences amounted to three years of “house arrest.”

In January 2022, she was arrested for "violating the serving of a sentence" and sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. However, she was never released - she was transferred to a pretrial detention center as part of a new criminal case initiated for slandering Lukashenko and discrediting the Republic of Belarus. In June, she was sentenced to imprisonment and a large fine.

In April 2023, Elena was convicted again under the article "malicious disobedience to the demands of the colony administration." This article is often applied to prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the administration, for fictitious violations.

It is known that physical and psychological pressure is constantly applied to Elena. She is regularly placed in solitary confinement and PKT, deprived of almost all parcels, calls, visits, and her merchandise allowance was reduced from three basic units to one.

In February 2025, Polina Sharendo-Panasyuk reported that Elena had been placed in the PKT again: “After several weeks in the punishment cell, she was transferred to the PKT. It is 99% likely that Article 411 will be fabricated against her again.”

Sergei, an assistant to the head of one of the capital's organizations, was detained in September 2020 at his home for participating in a protest against the falsification of the presidential elections and violence against peaceful citizens, which took place on August 11, 2020 in Minsk. He was convicted of "participation in mass riots" and also under an article related to drugs.

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

In November 2024, Sergei's punishment was increased and he was transferred to prison.

Denis, a special communications officer for the General Staff of the Armed Forces, was detained in March 2021 and convicted for, according to pro-government media, photographing a secret letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs to the Minister of Defense and “passing it on to a Polish Telegram channel.”

The trial was held behind closed doors, and the verdict was not subject to appeal or review. In addition to a long prison term, Denis was also stripped of his military rank.

In August 2022, his punishment was increased and he was transferred to prison.

Yevgeny, a former investigator for the Investigative Committee and the initiator of the bychange.me project, was first detained on the evening of November 24, 2020, in Minsk as part of a criminal case initiated under the article “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them.” He was released 10 days later, but in April 2021, he was arrested again and later convicted under six criminal articles, including for “organizing mass riots” in 2020, “inciting other social hatred” in interviews and texts on social networks, as well as for “threatening violence” against the head of the temporary detention facility on Okrestina via tweet.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, Evgeny was "an active participant in the Telegram chat "KHATA", whose activities are aimed at organizing crimes of an extremist nature." The trial was held behind closed doors, and Evgeny signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding the case materials.

Alexander, a well-known Belarusian political scientist and literary scholar, was previously part of Lukashenko's election team, and after his victory, briefly worked in his administration. He subsequently resigned and became one of the most vocal critics of the first president of Belarus.

On April 12, 2021, he was detained in Moscow and later extradited. As part of the criminal case, he was charged under the article "conspiracy or other actions committed with the aim of seizing state power." In September 2022, he was sentenced to a long prison term.

Alexander was detained in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place in Pinsk on the night of August 9-10, 2020 against falsifications in the presidential elections. He was convicted of participating in "mass riots."

Ilya was convicted of attempting to set fire to the Zhodino prosecutor's office building in October 2020. According to investigators, he set fire to a manufactured device on the porch to express disdain for law enforcement. As a result of the scattering of a mixture of petroleum products and bottle fragments, the front door and canopy were damaged, causing damages of more than 1,500 rubles.

An activist of the "Country for Life" and a member of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's team, Alexander has been repeatedly detained under political administrative articles. He was detained along with another activist, Oleg Boroznaya, who were known to have been under surveillance since the fall of 2020. Alexander was subsequently convicted on fabricated drug-related criminal charges.

Alexey, an activist in the anarchist movement, was detained in March 2021 as part of a criminal case brought against anarchists from the Brest region. He was convicted under several criminal articles, such as “participation in group actions that grossly violate public order” and “creation of an extremist group and participation in it.”

It is known that the charges are based on the episode with the blocking of roads in Brest in 2018 during a protest against the construction of the battery plant, as well as participation in the "March of the Non-Parasites", which took place on March 5, 2017.

Andrei is a Grodno journalist, publicist and member of the Union of Poles in Belarus. In 2011, he was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment with a 2-year suspended sentence on charges of slandering Lukashenko. He was released in the courtroom on his own recognizance not to leave. In 2012, a new criminal case was opened against him for publications in the media, but in 2013 it was closed due to lack of evidence. In the autumn of the same year, he was released from serving his sentence in the first case.

On March 25, 2021, Andrei was detained again. He was accused of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions. The charges included articles about the 2020 Belarusian protests, the protection of the Polish minority, and publications about the USSR's attack on Poland in 1939. He spent more than 1.5 years in pretrial detention and was convicted in February 2023.

It is known that Andrey refused to write a petition for pardon. At present, he continues to be subjected to pressure, is deprived of visits and parcels. There are also no calls from him.

Alexander was detained in October 2020 and charged with participating in the events that took place on October 11, 2020, near the Pushkinskaya metro station, when people tried to protect a peaceful protester from being beaten by riot police. During his detention, he was threatened, forced to testify on video, and his leg was broken in five places. He was admitted to the pretrial detention center with a cast after interrogations.