All persecuted

Lyudmila is the former CEO of TUT.BY. She worked at TUT.BY since 2008: first as a legal adviser, later as a director. In 2017, she headed Tut By Media.

In May 2021, she was arrested in connection with a criminal case opened on charges of tax evasion.

In October 2022, the KGB added Lyudmila to a list of those “involved in terrorist activities.” She was later also charged with “inciting hatred” and “calling for actions against national security.”

The trial was held behind closed doors and lasted more than two months - 37 sessions in total. In March 2023, Lyudmila was sentenced to a long prison term and a large fine.

Andrey, a maxillofacial surgeon at a children's hospital, was detained in May 2021 after a search as part of a criminal case opened under the article on "insulting the president." His wife and children were forced to leave the country. Andrey was later charged with "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" and "participation in mass riots."

In April 2022, Andrei was convicted on four criminal charges for participating in protests that took place in Minsk in 2020 and for publications on social networks that were classified as insults and incitement of hatred.

In June 2024, his sentence was increased and he was transferred to prison until the end of his term.

Vladislav, a blogger, poet and writer, was arrested in April 2021 and convicted a year later of fraud for promising more than 100 people in 2015–2016 to take part in Belarus’s first reality shows, but failing to keep his promise. He was also found guilty of participating in three Marches in 2020 and organizing protests via Instagram. Vladislav himself only admitted to participating in the rallies.

In October 2022, he was convicted again for insulting Lukashenko in a poem included in an appeal against the verdict.

On the portal of the online store Ridero.ru, under the pseudonym Vlad Savinn, his books are presented - the story "Ambidextrous" and the collection of poems "Poetry Through", available in printed and electronic form.

Sergei, an assistant to the head of a Minsk organization, was arrested in September 2020 at his home for participating in a protest against presidential election fraud and violence against civilians that took place in Minsk on August 11, 2020. He was convicted of "participating in mass riots" and also on drug-related charges.

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On September 7, 2020, he was detained at his residence. According to the medical examination report, at the time of his arrest, he was in a state caused by the use of psychotropic substances; mephedrone was detected in his system. During a search of his apartment, law enforcement officers found a powdered substance. Investigators later concluded that Sikorsky also sold the same substance to a 46-year-old resident of Mogilev.

During the closing arguments, the state prosecutor requested the court to award Sikorsky:

• Under Part 1 of Article 328 of the Criminal Code – 2 years of imprisonment;
• Under Part 3 of Article 328 of the Criminal Code – 7 years' imprisonment and a fine of 300 basic units. By combining the penalties under the two parts of Article 328, the total sentence is 7 years' imprisonment;
• Under Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code – 5 years of imprisonment.

The final sentence is 9 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony and a fine of 300 basic units.

Denis, a special communications officer for the General Staff of the Armed Forces, was detained in March 2021 and convicted for, according to pro-government media, photographing a secret letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs to the Minister of Defense and “passing it on to a Polish Telegram channel.”

The trial was held behind closed doors, and the verdict was not subject to appeal or review. In addition to a long prison term, Denis was also stripped of his military rank.

In August 2022, his punishment was increased and he was transferred to prison.

Ivan, a Gomel activist and volunteer for “Country for Life”, a member of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, left for Russia after several detentions, administrative arrest and the initiation of two criminal cases in 2020.

While in Kaliningrad, Ivan was detained in April 2021 while attempting to cross the border with Poland. At the request of Belarusian law enforcement, he was charged in a criminal case under four articles, including "terrorism". However, after an investigation, the Russian side dropped three of the four charges. A year later, on April 26, 2022, Ivan was released on bail.

On May 27, 2022, he was detained again, and at the end of June, he was extradited to Belarus. According to the case materials, in 2018, he allegedly embezzled more than 68 thousand rubles. The investigation also noted that in 2020, Ivan participated in protests, filmed videos and contacted government agencies.

In December 2022, he was convicted of "fraud." In April 2024, Ivan was convicted again under the article "malicious disobedience to the demands of the colony administration."

Yevgeny, a former investigator for the Investigative Committee and the initiator of the bychange.me project, was first detained on the evening of November 24, 2020, in Minsk as part of a criminal case initiated under the article “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them.” He was released 10 days later, but in April 2021, he was arrested again and later convicted under six criminal articles, including for “organizing mass riots” in 2020, “inciting other social hatred” in interviews and texts on social networks, as well as for “threatening violence” against the head of the temporary detention facility on Okrestina via tweet.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, Evgeny was "an active participant in the Telegram chat "KHATA", whose activities are aimed at organizing crimes of an extremist nature." The trial was held behind closed doors, and Evgeny signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding the case materials.

An activist of the "Country for Life" and a member of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's team, Alexander has been repeatedly detained under political administrative articles. He was detained along with another activist, Oleg Boroznaya, who were known to have been under surveillance since the fall of 2020. Alexander was subsequently convicted on fabricated drug-related criminal charges.

Alexey, an activist in the anarchist movement, was detained in March 2021 as part of a criminal case brought against anarchists from the Brest region. He was convicted under several criminal articles, such as “participation in group actions that grossly violate public order” and “creation of an extremist group and participation in it.”

It is known that the charges are based on the episode with the blocking of roads in Brest in 2018 during a protest against the construction of the battery plant, as well as participation in the "March of the Non-Parasites", which took place on March 5, 2017.

Ruslan was arrested in January 2021 and convicted of making and distributing "hedgehogs" in front of a convoy of cars participating in a pro-government rally in the fall of 2020. He was also accused of attempting to damage railway tracks by connecting the rails with metal wire, which could have delayed the movement of trains.

Ruslan is into extreme sports and arboristry. He loves heights and gets a thrill from sitting on a roof or hugging treetops. In prison, he discovered his talent for drawing. In his personal life, he works with wood, grows potatoes, keeps pigs and loves horses.

Ruslan has a benign brain tumor, as well as severe back pain , due to which he sometimes could not get out of bed.

Denis is a journalist and volunteer editor for the Belarusian version of InformNapalm, a freelance correspondent for Novaga Chas. His investigations touched on the influence of the "Russian world" on Belarus and Syria, construction in Kurapaty, and the transition of former Ukrainian Berkut officers to the Belarusian security forces.

In March 2021, he was detained by KGB officers on charges of "interfering with the activities of the police." Searches were conducted in his apartment, his mother's apartment, and his 95-year-old grandmother's apartment. In 2022, it became known that he was also accused of collaborating with Ukrainian intelligence.

In September 2022, Denis was convicted under articles on "treason" and "interference in the activities of an internal affairs officer", but the latter charge was later replaced with "illegal collection or dissemination of data about personal life".

In June 2023, he was transferred to a maximum security prison without notifying his family or lawyer.

In April 2024, the political prisoner was deprived of parcels, and sending vitamins now requires permission from the prison doctor.

Nikita, an anarchist activist, was arrested in March 2021 as part of a criminal case against anarchists from the Brest region. He was convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order" and "participating in a criminal organization." The charges stemmed from an incident related to the "March of the Non-Parasites," which took place on March 5, 2017.

Nikita was scheduled for release in early March 2026 after completing his six-year sentence. However, in January, he was retried under Article 411 of the Criminal Code—"malicious disobedience to prison administration"—and received an additional year added to his sentence. Prior to this, the anarchist spent at least four months in a cell-type facility at Shklov Colony No. 17.

Tikhon was arrested and convicted for, according to the Investigative Committee, deliberately running over servicemen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' internal troops during a protest that took place on August 11, 2020, near the Pushkinskaya metro station in Minsk.

In March 2022, he was re-convicted of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of a correctional facility" - a charge often applied to prisoners who refused to cooperate with prison authorities - and his regime was changed to a strict one.

In February 2026, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Tikhon for the second time under Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the demands of the colony administration).

Tikhon has serious health problems: his body has difficulty digesting food, he has eye pain, a rapid heartbeat, blood pressure surges, and a weakened immune system.

In mid-March 2026, Tikhon's trial took place in the Mozyr District Court. He was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to an additional eighteen months in prison, in addition to his 11 years and seven months in prison.

He is being held in pre-trial detention center No. 3.

Alexander was detained after a protest against the results of the presidential elections, which took place on August 11, 2020 in Brest. At this protest, Gennady Shutov was shot in the back of the head, which Alexander witnessed. He was later convicted of resisting and attempting to kill Captain Roman Gavrilov, who shot the protester, and Warrant Officer Arseniy Galitsyn, who acted as victims.

Dmitry was arrested and convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail towards military personnel on August 10, 2020. According to investigators, the bottles were transported to the center of Gomel by Leonid Kovalev, who hid them and handed them over to Dmitry and Nikita Zolotorev that evening with an offer to set fire to a building, bus or paddy wagon. Dmitry partially admitted his guilt, explaining that he threw the cocktail in order to buy time and avoid detention.

In December 2021, he was transferred to prison regime for “malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of the correctional institution.”