Vyacheslav was detained at his home on March 10, 2021. After waiting for his parents to leave, the security forces broke down the door, conducted a search without their presence, put Vyacheslav on the floor and beat him.
He was accused of participating in protests that took place in Minsk in August–September 2020 against election fraud and violence by security forces. Vyacheslav was convicted under the article on “group actions grossly violating public order” and sentenced to a restriction of freedom.
In June 2022, his punishment was toughened, and he was transferred to a penal colony before the end of his term.
He was released in March 2023, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
- Associations
- People with disabilities
- Parents of minors
Valentin 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. After the detention, the man felt ill and was taken under escort to the Pinsk Central Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a pre-infarction condition and placed in intensive care. As soon as his condition improved, he was transferred to a temporary detention facility and later convicted of participating in "mass riots."
He was released in August 2024 under a pardon.
Dmitry was arrested in March 2021 and convicted for standing up for a woman in Zhodino in September 2020 who was hit by a police officer, causing her to fall to the ground.
He was released in December 2021, having fully served his sentence as imposed by the court.
Andrei, a technician at the Institute of Meat and Dairy Industry, was convicted for comments left on the Telegram channel “Punishermen of Belarus” addressed to Dmitry Balaba, the commander of the OMON of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee.
- Associations
- Parents of minors
Olga, an employee of the Minsk office of lawyer Yuri Zenkovich, was detained on April 12, 2021, as part of a criminal case initiated under the article “conspiracy or other actions committed with the aim of seizing state power.”
In early June 2022, the KGB completed its preliminary investigation, after which it became known that new charges had been brought against her. In September 2022, Olga was convicted of "active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order."
She was released in December 2022, having fully served her sentence as determined by the court.
- Associations
- Journalists
Sergei, a journalist for the online publication Pershi Region, was arrested on December 22, 2020, in connection with a case of insulting Lukashenko. Three days later, he was placed under house arrest and in May 2021, he was released on bail pending trial.
In August 2021, Sergei was convicted of “insulting and slandering Lukashenko” and “insulting a government official.”
He was released in October 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
In September 2023, he was detained again after returning from Poland and sentenced to 15 days for “distributing extremist materials.”
In January 2024, he was arrested again - for reposting from the Gantsavitsky Chas website on VKontakte, although the account had been deleted in November 2023. The court did not take into account either this or Sergei's deteriorating health: he lost consciousness and sought medical attention.
Lidiya was convicted for reposting information concerning Tatyana Alantieva, the head of the election commission, to a Telegram channel. The information in question was a protocol with the voting results that she had drawn up while performing her duties at one of the polling stations.
According to human rights activists, she was released in October 2022, having fully served her sentence imposed by the court.
- Associations
- Students
Matvey, a freight forwarder and student at the Minsk College of Entrepreneurship, was convicted for participating in a protest action, the March for the Liberation of Political Prisoners, which took place on October 4, 2020, in Minsk.
In December 2024, it became known that a court hearing in absentia was held regarding Matvey to replace the restriction of freedom with imprisonment in a penal colony.
- Associations
- Activists
- Civil servants
- Foreign citizens
- Parents of minors
Andrei is a Russian citizen and a volunteer for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's initiative group. He was first detained on June 6, 2020, in Belarus for participating in a picket to collect signatures, which was considered an unauthorized event. He was soon charged under the article on "preparing and organizing actions that grossly violate public order."
On November 26, 2020, Andrei was taken to the border with Russia and banned from entering Belarus for 10 years. He left behind a wife and two children in the country.
On April 13, 2021, he was detained again in the village of Prusy, where he had secretly come to visit his family. He was later convicted of “illegal border crossing,” although the charges in the previous case were not dropped.
He was released in October 2022 after completing his sentence and deported to Russia.
- Associations
- Entrepreneurs
German was detained by GUBOPiK officers in March 2021. During the detention, he was severely beaten, his teeth were knocked out, thereby forcing him to write a confession. It is also known that a week before the detention, German's father, who had a disability, died. He was convicted under the article on "inciting hatred or discord" for two comments left on Telegram in August 2020.
He was released in November 2023, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
- Associations
Dmitry was arrested and convicted for, according to investigators, taking part in the production and burning of dolls near Mogilev that referenced officials, including Lukashenko.
He was released in November 2023, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
- Associations
- Students
Artem, a student, was first detained and severely beaten after a protest, the Pensioners' March, in November 2020. He was then sentenced to 15 days under an administrative article.
However, on March 24, 2021, during the days of mass preventive detentions before Freedom Day, he was arrested again early in the morning in a dormitory, allegedly because of a flag he had spotted, and sentenced to 25 days of administrative arrest. But the very next day, a video appeared on the Telegram channel of the propagandist Azarenka, in which Artem confessed to administering the public page. It later became known that he was beaten with truncheons to force him to record this confession.
He was never released, as a criminal case was opened against him. Artem was subsequently convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" and "creation of an extremist group."
Released in January 2025 as part of a pardon.
Alexander was convicted for a comment left under one of the posts on Odnoklassniki, addressed to the head of the Dzerzhinsky District Department of Internal Affairs of the Minsk Region, Yevgeny Zhilinsky.
He was released in January 2023, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
Sergei was arrested and convicted for, according to investigators, “deliberately attaching a metal wire between two railroad rails by wrapping it around the rails.”
He was released in August 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
Viktor was arrested and convicted for attempting to block rail traffic. In two cases, the blockade worked, disrupting train traffic.
He was released in August 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.
