Alexander Vladimirovich King

Ales is the chairman and founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center and former vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights. He is a laureate of the Andrei Sakharov Freedom Prize and other international human rights awards. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times and won it in 2022.

Ales had previously been prosecuted. On August 4, 2011, he was arrested after Lithuania and Poland handed over his bank account information to Belarusian authorities. He was charged with concealing income on an especially large scale. On November 24, 2011, the court sentenced him to imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony with confiscation of property. Ales pleaded not guilty, claiming that the funds were used exclusively for human rights activities. EU countries, the United States, and international human rights organizations recognized him as a political prisoner, and his sentence was politically motivated. He was released in the summer of 2014 under an amnesty.

On July 14, 2021, Ales was arrested again following a search of his apartment and office as part of a tax evasion case. In September 2022, that case was dropped, but he was charged with new charges of smuggling and financing group activities that grossly violate public order.

In March 2023, he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment and ordered to pay substantial compensation. He pleaded not guilty in court.

In early November 2023, Ales was placed in a PKT for trumped-up reasons. In April–May 2024, he was returned to his unit, but he continues to be under increased scrutiny. He works in woodworking, receives penalties, and is deprived of parcels, video calls, and correspondence. It is known that his previous stint in the Bobruisk penal colony has left him with health problems that persist.

Valentyn, a member of the Viasna Council and Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), is one of the most renowned human rights experts and analysts. He actively advocates for non-discrimination and against the death penalty, and has participated in international conferences, human rights missions, and election observation missions in OSCE countries.

On July 14, 2021, following a search of his apartment, he was taken away for questioning and then remanded in custody as part of a criminal case under the articles "tax evasion" and "organizing actions that grossly violate public order."

In September 2022, the tax evasion case was dropped, but new charges were brought against Valentin: smuggling and financing group activities that grossly violate public order.

On October 27, 2022, during the 41st Congress of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Valentin Stefanovic was re-elected as Vice-President of the organization.

In March 2023, he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment and ordered to pay substantial compensation. Valentin pleaded not guilty in court.

According to available information, the conditions of detention were tightened and he was transferred to prison regime.

Vladimir, a lawyer for the Viasna human rights center and coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign, was detained along with his wife on July 14, 2021, following a search of their apartment. He was taken to the Financial Investigation Department and then to the Investigative Committee for questioning, after which he was remanded in custody for tax evasion.

In September 2022, the case under this article was dismissed, but new charges were brought against Vladimir: smuggling and financing group actions that grossly violate public order.

Vladimir is a finalist for the 2022 Belarusian Human Rights Community Award in the Human Rights Defender of the Year category.

In March 2023, he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment and ordered to pay substantial compensation. He pleaded not guilty in court.

According to available information, the conditions of detention were tightened, and Vladimir was transferred to a prison regime.

Eduard, who graduated from BGEU with a degree in Economics and Business Management and ran the crowdfunding platforms Ulej and MolaMola, as well as his father Viktor Babariko's initiative group, was detained on June 18, 2020, on his way to the Central Election Commission to submit signatures. He spent more than three years in prison without trial and was convicted of "organizing mass riots" and "tax evasion."

In July 2024, he was re-sentenced to two years in prison for “disobeying the prison administration.”

Victoria, the administrator of the channel “Drivers 97%”, was detained on November 4, 2020 in Minsk by GUBOPiK officers and convicted of “calls for mass riots and blocking roads in connection with dissatisfaction with the authorities and election fraud.”

In 2022 and 2023, the court increased her prison term twice, accusing her of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of the correctional institution." Victoria was repeatedly subjected to pressure in the colony and was recognized as a "malicious violator."

According to the schedule on the Supreme Court website, Victoria's case will be heard on October 28, 2024, in the Rechitsa District Court. The woman is accused for the third time under Part 1 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code.

On December 18, 2024, the appeal was heard in the Gomel Regional Court.

As of the end of December 2024, she was transferred to Penal Colony No. 24.

Polina Sharendo-Panasyuk reported that Elena Gnauk and Victoria Kulsha were placed in a PKT: "After several weeks in a punishment cell, they were transferred to a PKT. It is 99% that they will again fabricate Article 411 against them."

Polina also added: "Victoria Kulsha's kidneys have probably already failed. She went on hunger strikes for months, she refused water and drink. She cut her veins. They threw her in the punishment cell with this - she cut her veins in the punishment cell. She went on hunger strikes in the punishment cell. She refused medical help."

Victoria was supposed to be released in April 2025 after her term expired. But in early April, she was transferred to Gomel's SIZO-3 as part of the fourth criminal case under Part 1 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the legal demands of the colony administration).

Lawyer and member of the presidium of the Coordination Council for the Resolution of the Political Crisis.

Maxim was detained on September 9, 2020 and charged with conspiracy and extremist activities, including public calls to seize power and actions threatening national security, using the media and the Internet.

Maria, a member of the presidium of the Coordination Council and head of Viktor Babariko's headquarters, was kidnapped on September 7, 2020, and taken to the Belarusian-Ukrainian border for deportation. She tore up her passport and refused to leave the country. On September 9, she was detained and taken into custody.

In September 2021, she was convicted under the articles: “conspiracy to seize power by unconstitutional means,” “calls for action against national security,” and “creation of an extremist group.”

In November 2022, Maria underwent surgery due to a perforated ulcer and peritonitis. Since March 2023, she was in the PKT. Due to health problems, she did not work, she was even accompanied to the formations.

Maria was kept incommunicado for a long time. In the summer of 2024, it became known that the administration had isolated her from other prisoners, with guards constantly with her. On November 12, 2024, she met her father for the first time in 18 months.

The meeting took place in a prison hospital, and it is not known for sure whether she was being treated or was brought there from the PKT. Before this, there had been no communication from Maria, and her condition became known only from the words of other prisoners.

Following this meeting, she was again cut off from communication with the outside world and continues to be kept incommunicado.

In February 2025, her sister reported that Maria had been returned to the unit and expressed hope that communication would be restored.

Alexander, an activist and well-known Belarusian artist, was arrested in late March 2021 on charges of “rehabilitating Nazism” after he displayed a portrait of Yevgeny Zhikhar with a machine gun over his shoulder at an exhibition at the Grodno City Life Center. The prosecutor’s office claimed that Alexander “characterized Zhikhar as a fighter against the Bolsheviks, glorifying his actions.” Despite the threat of prosecution, Alexander did not cancel his return to Belarus from Ukraine, where his exhibition was taking place.

On March 25, 2022, during the trial, he cut his stomach in protest, for which he received 13 days in solitary confinement. He was later convicted of "inciting hatred or discord" and "desecration of state symbols." The political prisoner refused to file an appeal.

As it became known, in November 2022, Alexander's type of punishment was toughened and he was transferred to prison regime.

On July 11, 2023, Alexander died in intensive care due to untimely medical care for a perforated ulcer.