Political persecutions

Leonid, a former employee of the Minsk Tractor Plant, was found guilty in December 2021 of "insulting a government official" for comments he left on Telegram about two riot police officers, Nikolai Yakimyuk and Nikita Saprankov.

Olga was detained on November 22, 2021, at her workplace at the Ostrov Chistoty store. She was released that evening, but was detained again the following day and placed in pretrial detention.

In April 2022, Olga was found guilty in a criminal case brought under the articles "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them" and "desecration of buildings and damage to property," and was sentenced to restricted freedom without being sent to an open correctional facility.

Olga, a volunteer of the PSO "Angel", was detained and convicted for installing a scarecrow, which, according to investigators, resembled Lukashenko, in the district center on Varshavskoe Shosse.

Darya was found guilty in January 2021 of "violence or threat of violence against a law enforcement officer" for damaging the jacket of police officer Alexei Goryunov during a protest in Brest in the fall of 2020.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs press service, Alexey was arrested on charges of "financing protests." He allegedly received donations on his bank card and, between August 2020 and January 2021, helped pay protesters' fines.

He was released on bail.

In December 2021, Andrei was found guilty of insulting Vladimir Kozlovsky, a police officer from Grodno who fell during a brawl on May 29, 2020, at a picket to collect signatures for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's nomination as a presidential candidate.

Left Belarus before starting to serve his sentence.

In December 2024, a court hearing in absentia was held as part of a special proceeding on the issue of replacing the restriction of freedom with imprisonment in a penal colony.

Grigory was found guilty in December 2021 of insulting a government official for a comment he left on the social network Odnoklassniki on May 27, 2020, under a post that featured a photo of Komar, a senior district police officer at the Bobruisk Main Directorate of Internal Affairs.

Regina, the founder of the Ivye Museum of National Cultures, was found guilty in September 2021 of "insulting a government official" for comments she left on Telegram addressed to Andrei Erokhin, Deputy Head of the Ivye District Executive Committee's Department of Internal Affairs, and Valery Gorbach, Senior Inspector.

On February 2, 2022, it was reported that she had been arrested for 10 days for violating the rules of her home confinement. While serving her sentence, Regina went on a hunger strike. It was also reported that she had been placed in solitary confinement.

In March 2022, Regina was visited more than 25 times for inspections. She was unable to obtain permission to travel to Lida to purchase craft supplies and was effectively unable to work. Additional restrictions were also announced, including a ban on visiting churches and a number of household restrictions.

After another arrest and being held in a pretrial detention facility under harsh conditions, Regina was forced to leave Belarus.

In December 2024, a court hearing in absentia was held as part of a special proceeding "on replacing the restriction of freedom without sending to an open-type correctional facility."

Alexander was arrested in October 2021 in connection with a criminal case opened under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them."

In January 2022, he was convicted of participating in a post-election protest that took place in August 2020 in Minsk and sentenced to restricted freedom and sent to an open correctional facility.

Left Belarus before starting to serve his sentence.

In December 2024, a court hearing in absentia was held as part of a special proceeding on the issue of replacing the restriction of freedom with a referral to a correctional facility with imprisonment in a penal colony.

Anastasia was arrested in November 2021 as part of a criminal case opened under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them" and placed in pretrial detention pending trial.

In May 2022, she was found guilty of participating in a protest that took place in Minsk in the fall of 2020 and sentenced to restricted freedom and sent to an open correctional facility.

Left Belarus before starting to serve her sentence.

In December 2024, a court hearing in absentia was held as part of a special proceeding on the issue of replacing the restriction of freedom with imprisonment in a penal colony.

Victoria was detained on November 22, 2021, at her workplace at the Ostrov Chistoty store as part of a criminal case opened under the articles "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them" and "desecration of buildings and damage to property." She was placed in pretrial detention pending trial.

In April 2022, she was found guilty of participating in a protest that took place on September 20, 2020, in Minsk and sentenced to restricted freedom without being sent to an open correctional facility.

Gayane, the mother of anarchist activist Roman Khalilov, was detained on November 26, 2021, after security forces broke down the door of her apartment and conducted a search. She was initially taken to the Polotsk District Police Department, where she was charged with "disobeying police officers" and sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest.

It was later revealed that Gayane had become a suspect in a criminal case opened under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or actively participating in them." She was transported to the temporary detention center on Okrestina Street in Minsk and then placed in a pretrial detention center.

In April 2022, Gayane was found guilty and sentenced to restricted freedom and sent to an open correctional facility.

She left Belarus before starting to serve her sentence.

In January 2025, a court hearing in absentia was held as part of a special proceeding on the issue of replacing the restriction of freedom with imprisonment with serving the sentence in a penal colony.

Artyom was detained in November 2021, the day after returning to Belarus. He had arrived for a day to take a work assessment and was detained right in his office. He was charged with "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them" and was remanded in custody pending trial.

In April 2022, Artyom was found guilty of participating in mass protests that took place in Minsk in 2020 and sentenced to restricted freedom and sent to an open correctional facility.

Left Belarus before starting to serve his sentence.

In March 2025, a court hearing in absentia was held as part of a special proceeding on the issue of replacing the restriction of freedom with imprisonment in a penal colony.

Vitaly was found guilty in December 2021 of the criminal offense of "insulting a government official" for a comment left on VKontakte under a post alleging that Pavel Ermoolenko, a police captain with the Zheleznodorozhny District Department of Internal Affairs in Vitebsk and a patrol company commander, had beaten people. In addition to a suspended sentence, the court ordered the "victim" to pay substantial compensation.

Daniil was found guilty in December 2021 of a criminal case opened under the article "Desecration of State Symbols." According to the charges, "on September 12, 2021, near building No. 21 on Sovetskaya Street, he grabbed the flag with the intent to desecrate the national flag of the Republic of Belarus, expressing an insulting attitude toward state symbols and demonstrating ostentatious courage to those present." According to the prosecution, this caused damage to the state in the amount of 129 rubles.