Viachaslau had been persecuted before: in December 2010, after a peaceful rally in Minsk was dispersed, he served 15 days of arrest, and in 2013 he got five days for monitoring detentions during the "Chernobyl Way" march.
On 16 February 2022, Viachaslau was detained by the KGB on charges of sending letters to members of election commissions before the referendum of 27 February 2022, urging them to count the votes honestly.
In September 2022, Viachaslau was found guilty in a criminal case opened under the article "Obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights" and sentenced to imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony.
Released in September 2023 after serving the full sentence imposed by the court.
