Potential persecutions

The persecution is believed to be politically motivated.

The persecution is believed to be politically motivated.

According to human rights activists , searches and detentions of people associated with socio-cultural organizations were conducted in various cities of Belarus at the end of April.

The detainees were searched for "foreign funding." Some were placed in pretrial detention. Searches and interrogations are being conducted by KGB officers.

Maxim is believed to have been detained in connection with this case.

Presumably convicted in the "skinhead case" in Mozyr. According to pro-government sources, the investigation lasted 12 months. During this time, 34 criminal cases were opened under various articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. Eight people were detained, seven of whom were under 18 at the time of the crimes.

According to the court, Vyacheslav was found guilty of "creating an extremist group, leading such a group; rehabilitating Nazism; inciting racial, national, religious or social hatred and discord; publicly insulting the President of Belarus; preparing and committing malicious hooliganism."

He is allegedly being held in pretrial detention on fabricated, politically motivated charges. Vyacheslav's imprisonment is being used as a means of pressuring his relatives in exile: two months after Vyacheslav's arrest, GUBOP officers contacted his cousin, who was in exile, and offered "cooperation" in exchange for "solving the problem." During the conversation, the GUBOP officer openly stated that the purpose of this persecution of Vyacheslav was to exert maximum pressure on his brother (Dmitry) and "make things as bad for him as possible."

Pavel, leader of the Barysfen knights' club and a reenactor, has not been released after being detained on November 3 and sentenced to 15 days in jail. The reasons for his detention and the administrative charges are unknown.

Around the same dates, two more people involved with Barysfen were detained, but no details are available about them.

On November 4, it was revealed that Pavel Stankevich's personal social media accounts and the pages of his projects "Barysfen Knight's Club," "Barysfen Medieval Show - Theater," and "Journey to the Middle Ages - Weekend Tour" were added to the "list of extremist materials."

He was convicted of participating in a protest held in the city of Brest on August 10, 2020 (Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code), as well as for possession of narcotics (Part 3 of Article 328 of the Criminal Code).

Ex-policeman. According to the prosecution, on May 27, Butko, who after leaving the police became the director of a commercial transport company, struck his employee Andrei Zakhar "at least 12 times in the head" with his fists. The victim said in court that he had "no complaints" against Butko.

In 2017, Butko resigned from the service, and in 2020, he spoke out against the brutality of the security forces. In May 2021, Lukashenko stripped him of the rank of reserve police lieutenant colonel.

He was brought to administrative charges for participating in protests, which the court took into account when sentencing him. It is known that he is on the profukus list in prison as someone prone to extremism. The human rights organization RPF (Respect-Protect-Fulfill) finds a political component in his case.

Until 2011, Dmitry worked as a platoon commander of the Kobrin department of the security department and was a police captain. He is married and has a daughter. In November 2012, the Brest Intergarrison Military Court sentenced Peretolchin to 3.5 years in prison with a three-year deferment under the article on fraud (Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code). He was stripped of the rank of police captain. After that, he worked as a foundryman at Polesie and as a specialist at Dobronom.

He was convicted in the Brest Regional Court under Part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code (treason (as amended by the Law of 09.01.2019)) and Part 2 of Article 406 of the Criminal Code (failure to report a crime).

According to the court, the charge against everyone was that on August 10, 2020, in Brest, people "shouted slogans, displayed white-red-white banners, and intentionally obstructed the movement of vehicles and the normal functioning of businesses." In doing so, they allegedly grossly violated public order.

In addition to her previous conviction under Article 328, she received 11 years in prison and a fine.