Lyudmila was convicted of insulting Lukashenko and arrested right in the courtroom. According to the prosecution, on August 12, 2020, she posted a long message with expressions addressed to Lukashenko on the social network VKontakte from her husband's account. At the trial, the woman explained that she published it for herself and did not realize that the post was available to other users. According to her, the page usually posted photos of animals, and this message was published publicly by mistake.
Lyudmila was released on March 9, 2022, as part of a pardon.
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Sofia, a student at the European Humanities University and a citizen of the Russian Federation, was detained in May 2021 after the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk by Belarusian authorities. The plane was en route from Athens to Vilnius. Sofia was accused of administering the Telegram channel "Black Book of Belarus", which published personal data and information about the private lives of civil servants.
At the end of December 2021, she was finally charged under seven articles of the Criminal Code, after which the case was referred to court.
The case was heard behind closed doors. In May 2022, Sofia was found guilty of two criminal charges. Following the trial, she was sentenced to imprisonment and ordered to pay compensation to the victims and court fees totaling about $70,000. The entire amount was subsequently paid by her family.
Sofia was released in June 2023 as part of a pardon.
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Olga, a blogger and designer, has been repeatedly persecuted and detained under administrative articles following the events that followed the 2020 elections in Minsk. In May 2021, her home was searched, after which Olga was detained as part of a criminal case opened on charges of "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or actively participating in them." Before that, she was already a suspect under two articles of the Criminal Code - "insulting a judge" and "slandering an election commission employee."
In December of the same year, Olga was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment.
She was released in June 2022, having served her full sentence as determined by the court.
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Darya, a TAM.BY manager and RocketData director, was detained on May 18, 2021, as part of a criminal case against TUT.BY, initiated on charges of tax evasion on an especially large scale.
In April 2022, she was convicted under the article "Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them." She was sentenced to imprisonment, but was released in the courtroom, since at the time of sentencing she had already served her entire term in custody during the investigation.
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Elena is a journalist. She started working at TUT.BY in 2014. At first, she worked in the Construction and Real Estate section, and after a few years, she moved to the Money and Power section.
She was detained on May 18, 2021, as part of a criminal case against TUT.BY for tax evasion on an especially large scale. In July 2022, Elena was released from pretrial detention on a non-disclosure agreement and surety, but the charges were not dropped. In the fall of the same year, the KGB added her to the list of "those involved in terrorism."
Elena did not appear at the TUT.BY trial, which began in January 2023 behind closed doors — by that time she had already left the country. In April of the same year, the Minsk City Court summoned deputy Valery Voronetsky and political scientist Yevgeny Preygerman, who vouched for Elena — they were fined 18.5 thousand Belarusian rubles each.
In February 2025, court hearings began on the criminal case within the framework of special proceedings under four articles - the outcome is unknown.
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Olga is the former editor-in-chief of the political and economic block TUT.BY, graduated from BSU, BGEU and Oxford, and hosted the program “Economics on the Fingers” with Sergei Chaly.
On May 18, 2021, she was detained in a criminal case on tax evasion by TUT.BY. She was later charged with "inciting social hatred" and "calls for sanctions." In March 2022, she was released from pretrial detention on bail and recognizance, but the charges were not dropped. In the fall of that year, the KGB added her to the list of "those involved in terrorism."
Olga did not appear at the TUT.BY trial, which began in January 2023 behind closed doors — by that time, she had already left the country. In April of the same year, the Minsk City Court summoned the head of the Republican Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shvets in connection with his surety for Olga — he was fined 18.5 thousand Belarusian rubles.
In February 2025, court hearings began on the criminal case within the framework of special proceedings under four articles - the outcome is unknown.
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Marina has been the editor-in-chief of TUT.BY since 2004 and is known for her interest in Balkan culture and her knowledge of the Bulgarian language.
In 2019, she was fined in a criminal case under the article "inaction of an official" for accessing BelTA materials; human rights activists deemed the case politically motivated.
In May 2021, she was arrested on charges of tax evasion, but the charge was later dropped.
In October 2022, the KGB added Marina to its list of persons "involved in terrorist activity." She was later also charged with "inciting hatred" and "calls 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 lengthy prison term.
On December 13, 2025, she was released after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Ukraine.
Marina was convicted in a criminal case brought for blocking railway tracks and hanging scarecrows in Brest.
She was released in December 2022, having fully served her sentence as determined by the court.
Alina was convicted for performances with mannequins in the form of police officers with the inscription "OMON". Before her arrest in the courtroom, she had been under house arrest since January 2021.
She was released in February 2022, having fully served her sentence.
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Lyudmila was convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place on September 13, 2020, in Brest. At that time, the participants were singing and dancing in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. According to the prosecution, the action disrupted the operation of public transport.
Valentina was first convicted in May 2021 for “participating in group actions that grossly violate public order” in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place in Brest on September 13, 2020. At that time, the participants were singing and dancing in a circle, and a water cannon was used against them.
In April 2024, it became known that Valentina was detained for participating in a protest on August 10, 2020 in Brest against falsifications in the presidential elections. In August of the same year, she was sentenced to imprisonment, counting the previously imposed punishment in the form of "house arrest" towards her term.
She was released in the fall of 2024, having fully served her sentence as determined by the court.
Victoria was convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order" in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place in Brest on September 13, 2020. At that time, the participants were singing and dancing in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. According to the prosecution, the action disrupted the operation of public transport.
On March 27, 2022, it became known that Victoria had successfully left the country.
Elena was convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place on September 13, 2020, in Brest. At that time, the participants were singing and dancing in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. According to the prosecution, the action disrupted the operation of public transport.
She was released in January 2023, having fully served her sentence as determined by the court.
Maria was convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order" in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place on September 13, 2020, in Brest. At that time, the participants were singing and dancing in circles, and a water cannon was used against them. According to the prosecution, the action disrupted the operation of public transport.
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Since 2020, Elena has been subjected to systematic politically motivated persecution: she has been detained and arrested 17 times under administrative law and fined a total of 173 basic units. Her home has been searched repeatedly.
In May 2021, Elena was convicted of "participating in group actions grossly violating public order" in a criminal case opened following a protest on September 13, 2020, in Brest, where participants were singing songs and dancing in circles when a water cannon was used against them. According to the prosecution, the protest disrupted public transportation. She was sentenced to restricted freedom without being sent to a correctional facility.
In September of that year, Elena was convicted again for "insulting Lukashenko." The combined sentence amounted to three years of house arrest.
In January 2022, she was arrested for "violating 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 opened 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 of the demands of the prison administration." This article is often applied to prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the administration, for fictitious violations.
It is known that Elena is constantly subjected to physical and psychological pressure. She is regularly placed in solitary confinement and isolation cells, deprived of almost all packages, phone calls, and visits, and her grocery allowance has been reduced from three basic units to one.
In February 2025, Polina Sharendo-Panasyuk reported that Elena had been placed back in the punishment cell : "After several weeks in solitary confinement, she was transferred to the punishment cell. There's a 99% chance they'll trumped up Article 411 against her again."
On December 13, 2025, she was released after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Ukraine.
