Candidate of Historical Sciences, adjunct professor at the Institute of History, University of Wroclaw. Melnikov specialized in military history and the history of the period when Western Belarus was part of Poland (1921-1939). He has published a dozen and a half books on Western Belarus. In 2020, he was awarded the L. Sapieha Prize for the preservation of the historical heritage of Belarus.
It is known for sure that he was arrested and is being held in a pretrial detention center. Melnikov's last activity on Instagram dates back to January 21, 2024.
Melnikov is being tried for an interview he gave to an unnamed independent media outlet in 2022. The trial is being held in open mode. An excerpt from the indictment was quoted by SB:
"In 2022, Igor Melnikov, motivated by national hatred and discord, as well as political and ideological hatred, knowingly knowing about the extremist activities of participants in an information resource banned in Belarus, gave them an interview in order to develop and popularize media of this kind and involve more citizens in such activities," the prosecutor said. It is noted that the historian gave comments to the media both in Belarus and in Poland. Melnikov reportedly admitted his guilt.
The Court of Appeal reduced the sentence imposed by the court of first instance by 2 years.
Igor was released in early September 2025, having served his full sentence.
Trial outcome 13.09.2024
4 years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
Appeal 05.11.2024
2 years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
Previously, the guy was into ship modeling and was even in the reserve of the Belarusian national team. He also listened to punk rock and was interested in the aesthetics of this subculture.
Trial outcome 15.07.2024
2 years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
Director of the Sakavitsa enterprise - the former Molodechno factory of art products. Sergei Sobolevsky was charged with Parts 1 and 3 of Art. 210 of the Criminal Code (“Takeover of property using official powers”), which, according to him, the investigators invented on their knees, is already in court. There was no evidence. Sergei Sobolevsky said in an interview that already when he was behind bars, KGB officers came to him three times with an offer to testify against Sergei Tikhanovsky (they also came to the Vitebsk colony) - and immediately go home. The convict categorically refused.
Director of TV commercials and music videos, journalist, political activist and co-founder of the Free Association of Athletes SOS BY, recognized in Belarus as an "extremist group." Andrei Gnet was arrested by Serbian authorities upon landing at Belgrade airport in October 2023, based on an Interpol warrant issued at the request of Belarus. Andrei has been in custody since his arrest; on June 6, 2024, he was transferred to house arrest without permission to leave his apartment.
On October 31, 2024, he was released from house arrest.
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