Political prisoners

Anna was detained on December 18, 2023. After 72 hours, she was still not released. Preliminary, a criminal case was opened for insulting Lukashenko and a police officer.

Anna was convicted of several criminal charges, including "assistance to extremist activity," and sentenced to imprisonment and a large fine. The trial was held behind closed doors.

Presumably, one of the reasons for the persecution was her solidarity with political prisoners - it is known that Anna actively wrote letters to them.

Georgy Cherevako was detained in August while returning from the United States. He was convicted for a donation of $21.29, which he sent from his PayPal account in support of the Kalinowski Regiment. A Belarusian card was linked to the account, from which the funds were debited. The authorities considered these to be deliberate actions “for the purpose of financing activities for the recruitment, training, and other preparation” of persons for armed conflict in Ukraine.

At the trial, he said that he voluntarily told the officers who detained him that he was subscribed to numerous “extremist” telegram channels, and admitted that he had made a transfer to the account of Polk Kalinovsky.

He himself gave the employees passwords to enter the payment system. He said that he made a donation because he hoped that these funds would be used to purchase helmets, body armor, and medicines, but he understood that they would use them according to their own understanding and, among other things, buy weapons and ammunition with them.

It is known that the woman was detained when she returned from Italy.

On March 15, 2024, the appeal was considered.

On December 9, 2023, a court in Omsk arrested Sergei until January 30, 2024 on charges of blowing up trains carrying oil products in the Severomuysky tunnel on November 29 and 30. First, a train with 41 fuel tanks, 3 with aviation fuel, and 6 cars with ferrous metal caught fire. Later, a freight train traveling along a bypass route was blown up. As a result, the fuel spilled over an area of 150 square meters - 4 fuel tanks burned completely, and 2 more were damaged. According to the FSB, Yeremeyev "confessed about working under the control of Ukrainian special services." The explosions in the tunnel were classified as a terrorist attack.

As reported in the Russian state media, Yeremeyev stated that he wanted to prevent the delivery of military cargo: "I wrote in the explanation that ammunition was currently being transported via BAM. The main goal was to impede the movement."

Sergey took part in the nationwide strike at Naftan in November 2020, which the man publicly stated and even sent his statement to Tikhanovsky's movement. "Sergey tried to resolve everything peacefully. Maybe he was tired of nothing being resolved... in the video, even though his face was painted over, I recognized him right away," his friend says of Yeremeyev. A few weeks after the strike, Sergey was fired from Naftan. Sergey was one of the best mechanics in Novopolotsk.

On February 6, 2024, an appeal hearing was held and the verdict came into force.

According to the prosecution materials , in December 2020, Krasko “published comments in the public domain on the Internet aimed at supporting extremist activities, propaganda and agitation of social discord and hostility towards employees of state law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Belarus, representatives of the judiciary, military personnel serving in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, published publicly available comments on the Internet aimed at supporting extremist activities, promoting and agitating social discord and hostility towards this category of persons."

Originally from Vitebsk , studied in Gomel, but recently lived in Grodno. An engineer by profession, he recently worked as a system administrator at Whitebird. Judging by social networks, he lived in Warsaw.

The man is also a radio amateur. Member of the Belarusian Federation of Radio Amateurs and Radio Athletes.

The consideration of the case began in January 2024, the last meeting was held on March 29, 2024

According to the prosecution, Evgeniy Kladov, on the Odnoklassniki social network, on his profile wall, available for viewing by other users, “counting on the subsequent perception by others of offensive information,” realizing the public and humiliating nature of his publication, deliberately posted an image that is contrary to universal morality and norms of behavior , accepted in society, thereby publicly deliberately humiliating the honor and dignity of Lukashenko’s personality in connection with the exercise of his powers, expressed in an indecent form.”

There are two similar episodes in the case.

At the court hearing, Kladov actually did not admit guilt and indicated that on his page he accidentally posted, in the public domain for all users, pictures of Lukashenko that he had previously viewed on the Internet; he did this unintentionally, he did not know that these images would be saved in the feed of his page , after his "class" mark.

On July 12, 2024, it became known that Evgeniy was included in the list of individuals involved in terrorist activities as accused under three more articles: Articles 130, 361 and 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. Apparently, Evgeniy was charged with a new one.

The basis for the criminal case against the man was “Class” in “Odnoklassniki” in one of the public pages recognized as extremist by one of the courts of the Republic of Belarus.

It is known that Nadezhda has two adult daughters and a minor son with disabilities.

On March 1, 2024, the appeal was considered and the verdict came into force.

Yashkin was detained in May 2023 and placed in custody pending trial.

According to the case materials , the man posted comments containing slander and insults against Lukashenko, called for the seizure of state power and a violent change in the constitutional system in the country.

In addition, in August 2020, the man twice made donations in support of the detainees.

According to the prosecution , Alexander Goncharov transferred funds through a bank transfer to finance the activities of the “Kastus Kalinovsky Regiment.”

The man was detained after 2021. Botvich was charged with two counts: "espionage" and "intelligence activity." The man in question is a 59-year-old man who, although not a Belarusian citizen, grew up and lived in Belarus. He is Sergei Ivanovich Botvich, the owner of companies with a combined turnover of hundreds of thousands of dollars, some of which were registered in the EU.

Sergei has done business in Belarus, Russia, France, and Lithuania (and holds citizenship in these countries )—primarily in tourism and wholesale coal exports from Eastern Europe to the Baltic and Western European countries. During the "fat years," Botvich's companies generated several hundred thousand dollars annually. In 2014, Botvich participated in a project to build a charcoal plant near the Svisloch River. Another major project of his was the purchase of the Bogudenki estate near the Svisloch River for $30,000.

"I was kept in solitary confinement for a year and a half, subjected to 10-hour cross-examinations, and deprived of food and water due to chronic illnesses—diabetes, post-thrombotic syndrome, hypertension, and gout," Botvich describes the conditions in his letter. According to him, Belarusian security forces wanted him to "incriminate himself about alleged espionage activities for Lithuania." He also wrote in the letter that the security services threatened his family, demanding that his wife and child come to Belarus and bring Sergei's work phone.

Former prisoners reported that Botvich works in the open air at the prison, performing low-skilled labor in all weather conditions, sawing boards with a two-handed saw or stripping wires and cables for non-ferrous metal. There is no building in the industrial zone where prisoners can hide or even temporarily warm themselves in the winter—the room where they change clothes is locked until evening.

People who were imprisoned in the same colony as Botvich speak of his poor health.