All persecuted

Vyacheslav was convicted under the article “desecration of a state symbol” and sentenced to restricted freedom with referral to an open-type correctional facility.

According to the case materials, on April 3, 2021, at about 5:25 a.m., while intoxicated, he removed the national flag from a building on Lenin Street. He carried it some distance and then threw it on the ground. As a result, the flagpole broke into three parts and the flag was damaged. Damage in the amount of 2 rubles 44 kopecks was compensated.

He was released in June 2022, having fully served his sentence.

Evgeny, a Gomel activist, was detained after a search of his own apartment on May 28, 2021 and later convicted under the articles “organizing actions that grossly violate public order” and “public insult to a government official.”

He was released in July 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.

Vadim was detained on April 14, 2021, on the border with Lithuania and later convicted for a comment left on Telegram addressed to the commander of the Minsk riot police, Dmitry Balaba.

He was released in November 2022, having served his full sentence.

Ilya, a student at the Gomel State Technical University, was convicted of insulting Lukashenko. He was found guilty of posting and distributing at least 17 leaflets on August 13, 2020, with an image of Lukashenko and an inscription that investigators said "humiliated his honor and dignity."

He was released in August 2022, having served his full sentence.

Alexey was convicted under the article “Insulting a government official” – in an Instagram group, he left a comment addressed to a police officer who sprayed gas and used violence against protesters.

In March 2022, his sentence was tightened: he was sentenced to 8 months and 23 days in prison.

According to human rights activists, in December 2022, Alexey fully served his sentence as determined by the court.

Ilya was arrested in March 2021 and convicted for participating in protests that took place on August 9-10, 2020 in Minsk. He comes from a large family and was the sole breadwinner at the time of his arrest. The court sentenced him to restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility.

In February 2022, a court hearing was held, following which the punishment regime was tightened, and Ilya was sent to a penal colony.

He was released in the summer of 2023, having served his entire sentence.

Konstantin was arrested and convicted for a comment left on the social network VKontakte under a photograph of an Interior Ministry employee.

In June 2022, he was released, having fully served his sentence imposed by the court.

Petr, an entrepreneur and TV repairman, was first arrested in April 2021 in a criminal case brought under the article on slander. The reason was a repost he made on August 23, 2020 on his page on the social network VKontakte - the publication contained an image and a comment from another author regarding an employee of the Baranovichi District Department of Internal Affairs. Petr was subsequently convicted and sentenced to restriction of freedom in an open-type correctional facility, as well as to pay a fine.

In January 2023, he was released on the basis of the amnesty law of December 7, 2021. Later that year, he was again brought to administrative responsibility under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses - for "dissemination, production, storage or transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activity or promoting such activity."

At the end of April 2024, it became known that Pyotr had been arrested again - on suspicion of participating in mass protests that took place in August 2020. A few months later, he was convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order" and sentenced to imprisonment by a court decision.

Vladimir was convicted for calling the police and expressing his opinion about Lukashenko. He was taken into custody on April 3, 2021, after which he was sent to an open-type correctional facility.

In April 2022, the conditions of his sentence were tightened and he was transferred to prison for the remainder of his term.

He was released in June 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.

Alexander is an activist and former coordinator of the organizing committee for the creation of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party. In 2019, he was detained on the eve of the parliamentary elections and convicted of renting an apartment for a Russian citizen at the request of his girlfriend, who later illegally crossed the border into Poland. Alexander believes the case was fabricated, as he did not know about his intentions. He spent just over a year in prison and was released under an amnesty in late August 2020.

However, already in March 2021, Alexander was detained again and convicted for "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" as part of a criminal case opened after a protest on September 13, 2020 in Brest. During the protest, people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them.

He was released in March 2022, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.

Igor was arrested in March 2021 and convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" in a criminal case opened after a protest that took place in Brest on September 13, 2020. During the protest, people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them.

Igor was convicted for the second time in August 2021 under the article on “hooliganism” for damaging two Beltelecom cameras and writing “cynical inscriptions”.

He was released in 2024, having fully served his sentence as determined by the court.

Olga, a blogger and designer, has been repeatedly persecuted and detained under administrative articles following the events that followed the 2020 elections in Minsk. In May 2021, her home was searched, after which Olga was detained as part of a criminal case opened on charges of "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or actively participating in them." Before that, she was already a suspect under two articles of the Criminal Code - "insulting a judge" and "slandering an election commission employee."

In December of the same year, Olga was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment.

She was released in June 2022, having served her full sentence as determined by the court.

Darya, a TAM.BY manager and RocketData director, was detained on May 18, 2021, as part of a criminal case against TUT.BY, initiated on charges of tax evasion on an especially large scale.

In April 2022, she was convicted under the article "Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them." She was sentenced to imprisonment, but was released in the courtroom, since at the time of sentencing she had already served her entire term in custody during the investigation.

Yaroslav was convicted under the article "Hooliganism committed by a group of persons" in a criminal case initiated for writing the words "3%", "Go away", "Long live Belarus" on a monument to Lenin in the village of Domachevo, Brest district in August 2020.

At the time of the trial, he was serving in the army and continued to do so after serving his sentence in the guardhouse in Minsk. The time served was not counted towards his overall military service.

Dmitry was convicted under the article "Hooliganism committed by a group of persons" in a criminal case initiated for writing the words "3%", "Go away", "Long live Belarus" on a monument to Lenin in the village of Domachevo, Brest district in August 2020.

He was released in June 2021, having served his full sentence.