- Associations
- Parents of minors
- Students
Ilya, a student at the Gomel State Technical University, was convicted of insulting Lukashenko. He was found guilty of posting and distributing at least 17 leaflets on August 13, 2020, with an image of Lukashenko and an inscription that investigators said "humiliated his honor and dignity."
He was released in August 2022, having served his full sentence.
Alexey was convicted under the article “Insulting a government official” – in an Instagram group, he left a comment addressed to a police officer who sprayed gas and used violence against protesters.
In March 2022, his sentence was tightened: he was sentenced to 8 months and 23 days in prison.
According to human rights activists, in December 2022, Alexey fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
Ilya was arrested in March 2021 and convicted for participating in protests that took place on August 9-10, 2020 in Minsk. He comes from a large family and was the sole breadwinner at the time of his arrest. The court sentenced him to restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility.
In February 2022, a court hearing was held, following which the punishment regime was tightened, and Ilya was sent to a penal colony.
He was released in the summer of 2023, having served his entire sentence.
| 27.05.2021 | Testimony in court: Nothing. Well, I’m showing that I’m only for, and not suprats our arrangements. Kali would I have intended to have a chymtsі ўzelnіchats, I would have a creature. About the hitch in which he stood: hell of people, like a flock of pobach, admiring the peragar, there the pit became a shameful flock of them. |
- Associations
- Parents of minors
Konstantin was arrested and convicted for a comment left on the social network VKontakte under a photograph of an Interior Ministry employee.
In June 2022, he was released, having fully served his sentence imposed by the court.
Alexander was convicted for a comment left on August 13, 2020. According to the prosecution, he posted an "offensive comment" on the page of a user with the nickname "Vera Konovalova." The post claimed that Drogichin police officer Yuri Chernyshkov "beat a girl with his hands and feet on the square in front of people" on August 10, 2020. Alexander left a comment under this post that began with the words "dealt with him" and contained an expletive. The text of the comment was not read out in full at the trial.
- Associations
- Parents of minors
In September 2020, a video from Zhodino went viral online, showing police officer Nikolai Baranovsky hitting a woman in the face so hard that she fell to the ground. Outraged citizens immediately ran up to him, including Anastasia, who tore off the police officer's mask. In May 2021, the court found her guilty, considering this act as "committing violence or threatening to use violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies."
- Associations
- Administrators of TG-channels
- Foreign citizens
- Students
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.
- Associations
- Entrepreneurs
- Parents of minors
Petr, an entrepreneur and TV repairman, was first arrested in April 2021 in a criminal case brought under the article on slander. The reason was a repost he made on August 23, 2020 on his page on the social network VKontakte - the publication contained an image and a comment from another author regarding an employee of the Baranovichi District Department of Internal Affairs. Petr was subsequently convicted and sentenced to restriction of freedom in an open-type correctional facility, as well as to pay a fine.
In January 2023, he was released on the basis of the amnesty law of December 7, 2021. Later that year, he was again brought to administrative responsibility under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses - for "dissemination, production, storage or transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activity or promoting such activity."
At the end of April 2024, it became known that Pyotr had been arrested again - on suspicion of participating in mass protests that took place in August 2020. A few months later, he was convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order" and sentenced to imprisonment by a court decision.
- Associations
- Lawyers
Ekaterina is a legal consultant at TUT.BY. She graduated from the Law Faculty of BSU. Before TUT.BY, she worked in a large advertising company.
She was detained on May 18, 2021, as part of a criminal case against TUT.BY for tax evasion on an especially large scale. A few days later, she was placed under house arrest.
In April 2022, it became known that Ekaterina's preventive measure had been changed from house arrest to a written undertaking not to leave the country.
Kateryna 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 February 2025, court hearings began on the criminal case within the framework of special proceedings under four articles - the outcome is unknown.
Vladimir was convicted for calling the police and expressing his opinion about Lukashenko. He was taken into custody on April 3, 2021, after which he was sent to an open-type correctional facility.
In April 2022, the conditions of his sentence were tightened and he was transferred to prison for the remainder of his term.
He was released in June 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
Igor was convicted for a comment left on a Telegram channel regarding the situation with a policeman beating a pregnant woman.
He was released in September 2021 as part of a pardon.
- Associations
- Activists
- Twice political prisoners
Alexander is an activist and former coordinator of the organizing committee for the creation of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party. In 2019, he was detained on the eve of the parliamentary elections and convicted of renting an apartment for a Russian citizen at the request of his girlfriend, who later illegally crossed the border into Poland. Alexander believes the case was fabricated, as he did not know about his intentions. He spent just over a year in prison and was released under an amnesty in late August 2020.
However, already in March 2021, Alexander was detained again and convicted for "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" as part of a criminal case opened after a protest on September 13, 2020 in Brest. During the protest, people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them.
He was released in March 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
Igor was arrested in March 2021 and convicted of "participation 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. During the protest, people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them.
Igor was convicted for the second time in August 2021 under the article on “hooliganism” for damaging two Beltelecom cameras and writing “cynical inscriptions”.
He was released in 2024, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
- Associations
- Bloggers
- Journalists
Roman is a Belarusian journalist and former editor of the Telegram channels NEXTA and Belarus of the Brain, which have been declared extremist by the authorities. In 2020, he was charged with several criminal offenses, including “organizing mass riots” and “inciting hatred.” In May 2021, he was detained after Belarusian authorities forcibly landed a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius in Minsk.
In June of that year, he was transferred to house arrest.
The trial in the "NEXTA case" began in 2023. Roman was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment in a maximum security penal colony, but after the verdict was announced, he was not taken into custody and remained under house arrest.
He was released in May 2023 as part of a pardon.
- Associations
- Activists
- Bloggers
- Parents of minors
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.
