All persecuted

The reason for the detention of Leonid and his wife Antonina was the protests of 2020. Pro-government channels reported that Antonina was left with the child - probably under recognizance not to leave. She is also likely to receive a non-custodial sentence.

On March 19, 2026, he was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).

Father Andrzej Yukhnevich, rector of the Roman Catholic parish in Shumilino, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, has not been released from the Vitebsk temporary detention center after serving 45 days in custody . The only parcels he is allowed to receive are medications. Father Andrzej Yukhnevich has already been convicted at least four times in a row. The first three were likely given the maximum sentence of 15 days, and the fourth time, the court sentenced him to a further 10-day arrest.

Thus, the rector in Shumilino spent more than 45 days behind bars —the longest of any Roman Catholic or Greek Catholic priest sentenced to administrative arrest in Belarus. Afterward, a criminal case was opened against the priest.

As Christian Vizier learned in the fall of 2024, pressure continues to be placed on the priest in Pretrial Detention Center No. 2, where he has been held since his arrest on May 8, 2024. The priest was only allowed to shower for the first time after two months of detention. He faces charges related to crimes against the sexual integrity of minors.

On April 30, 2025, Father Andrzej was sentenced in Shumilino. Believers learned that the priest had been sentenced to 13 years in prison , although the prosecution had sought a 15-year sentence. The trial was presided over by Inna Grabovskaya, chairperson of the Shumilino District Court.

According to information received by believers, the priest's case concerns events that occurred approximately 10 years ago. During one of his outings to Shumilino for services, he walked down the street with a local girl—an incident that the KGB turned into a criminal case. The girl never filed any complaints against the priest with the curia, either then or later. Under duress, she testified about harassment and attempted rape; she did not appear in court "for safety reasons." The verdict was handed down solely on the basis of her statement—without witnesses, attesting witnesses, or medical reports. As believers learned, the priest completely denied the accusations and attempted to prove his innocence, appearing in good spirits in court. Meanwhile, the diocese allegedly never received any complaints against Father Andrzej.

Because of his assigned "low status" in the colony, he was effectively isolated.

In November 2025, he was pardoned after a visit to Belarus by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, as a special envoy of Pope Leo XIV.

In addition to imprisonment, Tatyana was awarded a fine of 2,000 rubles.

A 38-year-old illustrator. She quit her job at a large IT company. Her colleagues, shocked, tried to talk her out of it, so she decided to go home. She claimed she already had a certificate from the KGB showing she'd paid back the full amount of her 2020 donation. She was tired of being homeless. She was detained at the border.
According to the prosecution's case, as presented by the Prosecutor General's Office press service, between 2021 and 2022, Natalia Levaya transferred cash and cryptocurrency totaling at least four thousand four hundred rubles (equivalent to approximately 1,275 euros today) to bank accounts and virtual wallets "used by members of extremist groups, including armed groups such as the Kalinovsky Regiment." Furthermore, she was fined 1,000 basic units—almost the same amount she donated to initiatives and foundations. This is the penalty requested by the prosecution in court. The trial was held behind closed doors.

She was pardoned on February 19, 2026, in her 8th month of pregnancy.

Irina Pogadaeva is 54 years old. She is from Brest. She worked at a local library as a bibliographer. Judging by social networks, she has two children.

At the end of January 2024, when she was tried for “distributing extremist materials.” At the end of 2023, she was included in the “extremist formation.” This was recognized by the Facebook community “Letters of Solidarity Belarus 2020”, in which people exchanged letters from political prisoners and also discussed helping prisoners.

In total, the case involves more than thirty episodes in which a woman sent money to political prisoners in pre-trial detention centers in Minsk, Gomel and other cities of the country. Basically, we are talking about amounts of 4-5 rubles. In just less than a year and a half (from August 2021 to December 2022), Irina sent 188 rubles. This was enough to initiate a criminal case and arrest in May 2024.

Convicted for comments on social media.

Highly qualified IT specialist.

Father of two children, 8 and 6 years old.

On March 19, 2026, he was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).

A citizen of Lithuania, but a native of Belarus. She worked as the head of the marketing department of the Lithuanian sanatorium "Belarus".

Ramanauskiene could have been detained last year when she was returning to Lithuania from Belarus, where she visited her relatives. The woman's relatives refused to comment to the Lithuanian publication. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reported that she was receiving consular assistance. The trial in the Minsk City Court began on June 3.

She was found guilty under Article 358-1 of the Criminal Code (intelligence activity). The trial was held behind closed doors, but state media reported that she was accused of "repeatedly providing information about vacationers, including high-ranking Belarusian officials." She was reportedly recruited by Lithuanian intelligence services more than 10 years ago.

On September 11, 2025, it became known that 52 political prisoners of the Belarusian regime were forcibly transferred to the territory of Lithuania. Among them are citizens of European countries , including Elena Romanauskiene .

Sergei was arrested for his solidarity with the repressed.

Yunchits is 50 years old and was born in the village of Podvosye in the Zhitkovichi district. He has been involved in business since the 1990s. According to Zerkalo, the man managed the family company Yuniko-Dental, which supplies dental materials, instruments, and equipment, until 2023.

On March 19, 2026, he was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).

According to the court schedule, on 29.04.2024, Daria was convicted under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus (Distribution, production, storage, transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activity or promoting such activity), apparently after that a criminal case was opened.

According to the case materials , in April 2024, Dasha and Valeria wrapped paper around a mop handle, set it on fire and brought it to the state flag, which was hanging on the organization’s building on Socialist Street in Grodno.

In court, both girls admitted their guilt.

On 08.08.2024, the appeal was heard and the verdict came into force.

Marina Alekseenko, 40, is from Minsk and graduated from the Minsk State Linguistic University in 2008. Afterward, she worked as a translator, but in 2012, she joined the Crowne Plaza, an elite five-star hotel in Minsk. Within two years, she had risen from assistant sales manager to head of sales and marketing.

She was detained as a result of a massive raid by security forces on January 23-24, 2024, targeting relatives of political prisoners and people who sent parcels and letters to political prisoners.

On March 19, 2026, she was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).

worked as the chief bibliographer of the research department of book science of the National Library of Belarus until November 2021. Then she went into IT.

On March 19, 2026, she was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).

A Ukrainian citizen. The Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that the Ukrainian was affiliated with the "extremist group" "Belarus Beyond the Moscow Ring Road," but according to human rights activists, Alexander had no connection to the project as its founder or leader—he simply left comments there.

He was pardoned on November 22, 2025, along with 31 other Ukrainian citizens. According to Lukashenko's press service, this occurred as part of "agreements reached" with US President Donald Trump and "at the request of the Ukrainian side in order to create conditions for resolving the armed conflict in the neighboring state." The released citizens were immediately handed over to the Ukrainian side.

According to the case materials , in April 2024, Dasha and Valeria wrapped paper around a mop handle, set it on fire and brought it to the state flag, which was hanging on the organization’s building on Socialist Street in Grodno.

In court, both girls admitted their guilt.

On 08.08.2024, the appeal was heard and the verdict came into force.