All persecuted

Roman was arrested in March 2021 as part of a criminal case under the article "Accomplicity in intentional actions aimed at inciting other social hatred and discord based on another social affiliation, committed by a group of persons." He was convicted of leaking information to BYPOL.

"On March 18, 2021, Roman went to a police officer's home to check the address published online and report it to a destructive resource. He entered the building, rang the intercom, met the police officer's husband, and fled. At home, he sent a message to a Telegram channel confirming the address," the investigation documents state.

In the fall of 2023, the conditions of his detention were tightened, and Roman was transferred to a prison regime.

In September 2024, a court hearing was held on the charge of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of a correctional facility," during which Roman could have received up to two years of imprisonment; the outcome of the hearing is unknown.

Evgeny is an anarchist activist. He was arrested on July 29, 2021, in Minsk. His apartment was searched, and he was beaten during his arrest. To gain access to his phone and computer, they pulled a bag over Evgeny's head.

During his transfer to the pretrial detention center, all of his books were confiscated and he was placed on a preventative register as someone prone to extremism, which entails a note in his personal file, special treatment, and additional work with a psychologist.

Evgeny was initially charged with "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or actively participating in them." In January 2022, he and other defendants in the criminal case were additionally charged with participating in an extremist group for subscribing to the Telegram channel "Pramen." At the time of his arrest, the channel had not yet been added to the list of extremist groups; this only happened in November 2021.

In April 2022, Yevgeny was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony. In April 2023, his detention regime was tightened, and he was transferred to a prison regime. In October 2025, the court added another year to his prison sentence for "malicious disobedience to the administration's demands."

Dmitry was arrested in July 2021 in connection with a criminal case involving an attempted assassination of propagandist Grigory Azarenok under the article "Act of Terrorism." According to the prosecution, he committed "deliberate actions aimed at preparing an act of terrorism against Azarenok." Various options were considered, including forcibly coercing him into recording a video message.

Dmitry was the only defendant in the case who did not plead guilty. At his trial, he stated that he was drawn into the crime during an investigative experiment. He claimed that after his arrest, he was subjected to violence and torture, forced to sign a confession. During interrogation, he sustained serious injuries to his hands, which now prevents him from working full-time. At the first hearing, he also announced his desire to renounce his Belarusian citizenship, as he "has no connection to terrorism."

In December 2022, Dmitry was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony, as well as a large fine.

Alexey was detained on July 1, 2021, in Minsk by officers from the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK). The following day, the court sentenced him to 15 days of administrative arrest, but instead of release, he was transferred to a pretrial detention center. He became a defendant in a criminal case for group actions grossly violating public order.

The case was heard under four articles of the Criminal Code: "organizing mass riots," "creating an extremist group," "inciting social hatred," and "insulting a government official." The trial was held behind closed doors, and the details of the charges are unknown.

In April 2022, the court sentenced Alexey to 11 years in prison. After the trial, pro-government channels published a video claiming that Alexey was the administrator of the Telegram chat "Cascade." A video about him had previously been filmed on TUT.BY.

In July 2023, it became known that he was in pre-trial detention, and on August 11, 2023, he was again found guilty in a new case of “creating an extremist group,” adding another 6 months to his sentence.

Vadim served administrative arrests in August and October 2020. His latest arrest occurred on June 28, 2021, as part of a criminal case related to an incident at a Russian Navy communications facility near Vileika.

According to the prosecution's case presented in court, Vadim and Alexey Glotov, "dressed in camouflage and armed with firearms, entered the military facility and planted explosive devices with a blast radius of up to 11 meters." One of them failed to detonate and was defused. An expert examination revealed that the devices were initiated using a delayed-action mechanism.

The damage was estimated at over 26,000 rubles. It was also reported that Vadim "planned to travel to Ukraine for military training."

In December 2022, he was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a maximum security penal colony and a large fine.

In 2025, a court hearing was held to discuss the issue of changing the prison regime, as a result of which Vadim was transferred to a prison regime.

Igor is a journalist for Belsat TV. He previously worked for the newspaper "Belorusy i Rynok" (Belarusians and the Market) and the Belarusian service of Radio Svaboda. He has also published in Russian and Ukrainian publications. Together with his wife, journalist Ekaterina Andreyeva, he wrote the book "Belarusian Donbass," a study of the role of Belarusians in the war in eastern Ukraine.

He was first detained on July 16, 2021, during mass searches of independent journalists on charges of "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order or actively participating in them." His apartment was searched, his equipment and books were seized, and he was then placed in a temporary detention facility. He was released on July 26.

In October 2024, news of his second arrest broke . Pro-government Telegram channels published a photo of Igor in handcuffs and a video in which he claimed he was being persecuted for an interview with media outlets deemed "extremist" in Belarus. Shortly before his arrest, in a commentary to the Dozhd TV channel, he noted that "Putin has embarked on a course of sharp escalation and is leading the country toward all-out war," while Lukashenko, in his opinion, "most likely does not want to participate directly in it, but is forced to face increasing pressure from the Kremlin."

In February 2025, Igor was charged with "discrediting Belarus" and "assisting extremist activity." The trial began on February 21 in Minsk. The court rejected the request for an independent expert examination, and on September 5 of that year, the journalist was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.

Tatyana is a co-founder of the Sympa school for young public administration managers, an expert in the Bipart research project, and a Master of Political Science.

She was detained in Minsk on the night of June 28-29, 2021, at the airport while going through passport control to leave the country. It is known that Tatyana was going to fly on a night flight to Tbilisi. It later became known that she was detained in connection with an initiated criminal case. Tatyana was taken to the temporary detention facility on Okrestina, and a few days later transferred to a pretrial detention center.

On February 6, 2023, the court began considering her case on charges of "aiding actions aimed at seizing power," "calling for actions that harm national security," and "inciting social hatred." On March 17 of the same year, the court sentenced Tatyana in a closed session to 10 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.

Yegor was arrested in February 2021 and later convicted of setting fire to a T-72 tank aboard a military train at the Stepyanka railway station. According to the case file, on the night of January 31, 2021, he threw a Molotov cocktail with the inscription "OGSB" at the tank. His actions were classified as an "act of terrorism." According to the prosecution, Yegor committed the arson based on his political views.

In early October 2023, it was announced that Yegor had been transferred to Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 in connection with a new criminal case opened under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation therein." In this case, he was sentenced to an additional six months in prison.

Anton, a volunteer for the Country for Life foundation and the Angel search squad, was detained on July 9, 2021, as part of a "KGB operation to purge radicals" and placed in pretrial detention on charges of financing the activities of an extremist group.

In October 2022, he was charged with "conspiracy to seize state power through unconstitutional means," and in November of that year, Anton was sentenced to imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony.

Sergei, deputy chairman of the board of Belgazprombank, was detained as part of the Babariko case and convicted in July 2021 under the article “accepting a bribe”.

Igor was first convicted for unfurling a banner reading, "While there is lawlessness in the country, resistance is our duty," blocking traffic. He was given a large fine.

Later, he was convicted again for insulting the authorities through a comment in the chat "Molodechno for Life" and was assigned a preventive measure in the form of "house arrest". Igor has a disability, as he is missing one leg.

At the end of 2024, it became known that Igor had been detained again and placed in custody. In July 2025, he was convicted under the article "Assistance to extremist activity", sentenced to imprisonment and a large fine.

Sergei, the former head of the department of the RUE "Minsk City Agency for State Registration and Land Cadastre", was arrested in June 2021 in a case of posting personal data of employees of the Smorgon District Department of Internal Affairs on a Telegram channel. According to the prosecution, from autumn 2020 to February 2021, he transferred personal data of more than ten employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and government officials to the administrators of Telegram channels.

In August 2022, Sergei was found guilty of several criminal charges, including “abuse of power or official authority,” and sentenced to imprisonment with deprivation of the right to hold positions related to the performance of organizational and administrative duties for a period of 5 years.

Stanislav, an activist from Gomel, was detained on May 28, 2021, after security forces conducted a search in his apartment, where he lived with his parents. Prior to this, he had served three administrative arrests under Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus for participating in protests.

Stanislav was convicted under two criminal articles for participating in a chain at the Solidarity March, which took place on September 20, 2020 in Gomel. He refused to sign a petition for pardon and defended his rights even in difficult prison conditions, despite health problems. He was left without care for his underage daughter and elderly parents, his father is disabled.

He was released in December 2023, having fully served his sentence.

In December 2024, it became known that Stanislav was again detained in a new criminal case.

Egor, a Russian citizen, was detained on May 4, 2021, by GUBOPiK officers in a rented apartment after a search and was brutally beaten. He was held in pretrial detention for seven months on charges of "organizing actions that grossly violate public order" - for voicing videos and audio messages on the "OGSB" Telegram channel. However, in December of the same year, he was convicted under the articles "inciting hatred or discord" and "calls for actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus", and sentenced to the maximum possible prison term.

In June 2022, the conditions of detention were tightened, and Yegor was transferred to prison regime.

Alexander was arrested in January 2021 in connection with the mass riots case and convicted on charges of participating in Telegram channels of a “radical orientation,” as well as intending to damage or destroy three Tabakerka kiosks.