Political prisoners

Oleg, the owner of the YouTube channel "Third Region Belarus," was detained in January 2022 when he returned to Belarus for the New Year holidays.

Oleg was accused of de-anonymizing security officials and, while abroad, allegedly continuing to "post anti-state information on social media and promote resistance to government officials." On his channel, he published videos of Belarusian solidarity protests in Kyiv, where he had lived since 2020. He was also accused of making "cynical comments" about deceased KGB officer Dmitry Fedosyuk.

In September 2022, he was convicted under several articles of the Criminal Code, including "inciting racial, national, religious, or other social hatred or discord." The court sentenced him to imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony and ordered him to pay substantial compensation.

In July 2023, Oleg was convicted again of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the prison administration"—a charge often applied to political prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the prison administration. In September of that year, it was reported that he had been transferred to a prison regime.

It was revealed that Oleg faced another court hearing in the first half of summer 2025 under the same charge of "insubordination." The appeal hearing was scheduled for mid-July.

Artyom enjoys music and fishing, and is inquisitive and knowledgeable in many areas. He studies English and German. He always knew he would live in Germany. He loves Rammstein, has been listening to them since childhood, and knows many of their songs by heart.

He was arrested on January 12, 2022, in connection with a criminal case involving "group actions grossly violating public order," "illegal collection and dissemination of personal data," "calls for actions aimed at harming national security," and "aiding and abetting incitement of hatred."

In September 2022, he was found guilty of participating in two post-election protests in Minsk in 2020, as well as developing a barcode scanning program to boycott companies that supported the regime.

68-year-old Boris Vitko was accused of writing an offensive comment regarding judge Nikolai Kmita on September 30, 2021, in the Lyakhovichi 97 telegram channel.

Court verdict 01/20/2023: 2 years of restriction of freedom without direction.

At the end of May 2023, it became known that Boris was detained again. This was reported by the pro-government telegram channel. Riot police officers in bulletproof vests with shotguns detained a man on the territory of a private house. In the published video, Boris says that he was detained on suspicion of insulting Lukashenko (Article 368 of the Criminal Code). A search was conducted at the place of residence in the village of Medvedichi, Lyakhovichi district.

Later, human rights activists learned that for some time Boris Vitko was held in the Lyakhovichi temporary detention center, then transferred to the Baranovichi pre-trial detention center. He is now in pre-trial detention center No. 7 in Brest awaiting trial. In November 2023, Boris was added to the list of terrorists. The trial began in early January 2024. At the first trial, Boris Vitko was charged with the fact that on September 30, 2021, in the telegram channel “Lyakhovichi 97” he wrote an offensive comment regarding judge Nikolai Kmita. Based on the totality of sentences, by partial addition of the unserved part of the sentence, the finally accused Boris Vitko was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of seven years and three months, to be served in a correctional colony under a high security regime, with a fine to the state in the amount of 300 basic units in the amount of 12,000 rubles .

Boris has heart problems and must constantly take medication.

The activist of the "European Belarus" was detained on December 30, 2021 in a criminal case on group actions that grossly violate public order.

On January 7, 2022, the woman was transferred to a pre-trial detention facility.

Elena has a little son.

In January 2023, Elena was transferred to Gomel Women's Colony No. 4. For a long time, a lawyer could not get to the political prisoner; she was placed in a punishment cell.

In October 2023, it became known that Elena's parcel was not accepted in August. This most likely indicates that she was deprived of parcels. The last letter from Elena arrived in early September, and there have been no letters from her since then. Since Lazarchik's transfer to the colony, permission has never been received from the institution's administration to meet with a lawyer. What is happening to Elena now, what condition she is in, is unknown. Elena has problems with her teeth in the colony, and she has lost weight.

In mid-November 2023, human rights activists learned that Elena had been placed in solitary confinement again.

According to the testimony of the former political prisoner, Elena served more than 90 days in a punishment cell and more than 60 days in a PKT .

In the spring of 2025, Elena was convicted under Part 2 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the legal demands of the colony administration) and sentenced to another year and a half in prison in addition to eight years of imprisonment. It is unknown when the sentence was handed down . It is known that Elena refused the services of a lawyer at the trial.

Detained together with her mother.

The apartment was searched under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. Then the article of accusation was reclassified to Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

He is previously accused of distributing personal data of Interior Ministry employees.

Detained together with her daughter.

The apartment was searched under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. Then the article of accusation was reclassified to Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

He is previously accused of distributing personal data of Interior Ministry employees.

He is a fitness trainer from Soligorsk.

According to the case file, in January 2021 Gavrilov purchased and provided aerosol cans with paint to two acquaintances — Tatiana and Oleg Birulya. After that, Tatiana and Oleg, from January to February 2021, applied inscriptions and drawings to various infrastructure facilities in Soligorsk, carrying out their damage.

In August 2021, Gavrilov, through agreements, including for material remuneration, involved another acquaintance, Sergei Pasyuk, in engaging in extremist activities.

Then, from August to December 2021, the defendants distributed leaflets and other printed materials on the territory of Soligorsk. The examination of the contents of the «Honest Newspaper», with copies of which the coach was detained, testified that Gavrilov was allegedly involved in inciting racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord committed by a group of persons.

Founder of the Symbal.by store, cultural manager.

He was arrested on November 15, 2021, after being summoned to the police station. Subsequently, Pavel was sentenced three times on administrative charges (for 15, 13, and 7 days), and then transferred to a pretrial detention facility for the criminal case.

He served his sentence in Penal Colony No. 17.

In February 2026, Pavel was transferred to ST No. 4 , without his belongings and without a tag. According to former political prisoners , it is possible that a new case has been opened against him.

Stanislav, a businessman, was arrested in December 2021 in connection with a criminal case opened under six criminal charges, including "calls for actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus" and "creating or participating in an organization to carry out terrorist activity." He was initially held in a KGB pretrial detention facility and was later transferred to Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 pending trial.

The trial lasted approximately six weeks, and in November 2022, Stanislav was found guilty of administering more than 30 Telegram chats, including "97" chats, which, according to investigators, were used to distribute extremist materials and coordinate protest activity. He was also charged with forming and coordinating community members, assigning roles and organizing their participation in protests, as well as actions to expand the number of participants and support the activities of the communities.

Alexander was arrested on August 22, 2021, near the dacha of V.O. Sukalo, Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan, for attempted arson. He was possibly provoked by a KGB officer.

In March 2022, Alexander was convicted of "act of terrorism" and sentenced to imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony.

Before his arrest, Andrey worked at EPAM and was previously a law enforcement officer.

He was detained in October 2021 in connection with a criminal case opened under the articles "inciting hatred or discord" and "illegal collection and dissemination of information about private life" and placed in pretrial detention.

In August 2022, Andrei was convicted of transmitting security forces' data to the Telegram channels "Punishermen of Belarus" and "Black Book of Belarus" and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.

Sergei, an investigative journalist and editor of the Belarusian portal "Ezhednevnik" (ej.by), was detained on December 8, 2021, following a search and questioning by the Investigative Committee. He was charged with bribery and placed in pretrial detention. Sergei had previously been detained in connection with this case, from March 25 to April 4, 2020.

It later became known that he was also accused of “inciting hatred and discord” and “abuse of power or official authority.”

Human rights organizations assessed the prosecution as evidence of a political motive in the criminal prosecution of the journalist, aimed at forcing him to stop or change the nature of his activities in disseminating information about corruption.

According to Sergei's colleagues, the prosecution was motivated by his high-profile investigative journalism, primarily concerning large-scale corruption in the healthcare sector. Based on these findings, he reported on unprecedented kickbacks in the supply of expensive equipment, the purchase of an unregistered vaccine that was claimed to have been tested on Belarusian children, and the falsification of data on the spread of COVID-19 in Belarus. Moreover, according to him, these actions took place with the approval of the Ministry of Health.

In October 2023, Sergei was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.

Vitaly was arrested in November 2021 on charges of "participation in mass riots" and placed in pretrial detention.

In March 2022, he was found guilty of participating in a post-election protest that took place in August 2020 near the Riga shopping center in Minsk. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he allegedly "along with other aggressive participants, committed vandalism and property destruction: breaking up paving slabs, erecting barricades, and blocking traffic."

Nikita was arrested in November 2021 in connection with a criminal case opened under the article "act of terrorism"—according to investigators, for disabling railway tracks. He was later finally charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: "participation in actions grossly violating public order" and "preparation for participation in mass riots."

In July 2022, Nikita was found guilty of calling for active participation in and participating in the 2020 post-election protests in Minsk, including incidents of "road blocking." Investigators also alleged that he received telescopic batons and stun guns from the administrators of the "OGSB" Telegram chat, as well as instructions for sabotaging the railway.

Sergei was detained in August 2021 as part of a criminal case initiated under the article “act of terrorism”.

According to the indictment, from July 2020 to January 2022, "an organized criminal group operated in Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine and other countries with the goal of committing extremist crimes. The group included radical individuals, including former and current military personnel, law enforcement officers, athletes and businessmen, who sought to seize power illegally." The case involves charges of attempted arson of the home of MP Oleg Gaidukevich in June 2021 and "organizing mass riots."

Sergei was convicted under several criminal articles to a long term of imprisonment and a fine, and he was also stripped of his military rank.