He was initially convicted on 02/07/2025 under administrative article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus, after which a criminal case was opened.
The man was accused of "discrediting Belarus" (Article 369-1 of the Criminal Code). The essence of the case is unknown. Semyon was threatened with arrest, or chemistry, or a colony - up to four years. The list of "extremists" indicates that he is "serving a sentence" - this means that the person was sentenced to a colony or chemistry with a referral.
In 2016, he founded his own consulting company, Strategy and Capital OJSC, and a few years later he headed the Belarusian branch of Civitta, where he is also listed as an associate partner. Civitta is a large consulting company with Lithuanian roots. It was founded by a former partner of McKinsey, a company from the so-called Big Three consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG, Bain). It is currently represented in 15 countries, with hundreds of consultants and developers working for it.
One of the oldest active editors of the Belarusian Wikipedia section and the most experienced administrator. He focused mainly on the ancient history of Belarus, but spent most of his time maintaining order in the section and moderating disputes.
The detention of Maxim Lepushenko is not the first case of recent repressions directed against authors and editors of the Belarusian Wikipedia. The detentions of several Belarusian Wikipedia administrators over several months appear to be part of a coordinated campaign, as indicated by the unfounded attacks from propagandists: - In April, administrator Olga Sitnik (Khomelka) disappeared; she was detained twice. - In December 2024, the editor of Stary Jolup was detained. - In March 2025, Kazimier Lachnovič (real name unknown) disappeared - one of the four administrators of the section on Tarashkevitsa. A week after the disappearance of the administrator Kazimier Lachnovič, propaganda material by Lyudmila Gladkaya was released, in which it was said that Wikipedia is a weapon of mass destruction against the countries of the post-Soviet space, and the Belarusian section is edited from Poland.
Nina Boginskaya, 78, became a symbol of the 2020 protests. Photos of her holding the national flag were published in many foreign media outlets.
She went to her first protest in 1988 in Kurapaty near Minsk, where there are mass graves of Belarusian victims of the Stalin regime. Later, Baginskaya took part in opposition actions held in memory of the Chernobyl disaster, the disappearance of opposition politicians, and in protest against the annexation of Crimea. She was detained and fined many times. "I need to live 120 years to pay them all off," Nina said in an interview. Since 2016, 20% of Baginskaya's pension has been deducted to pay fines, and since 2017, 50%. In 2016, bailiffs confiscated the pensioner's microwave and washing machine. A few years later, the state seized and put her two summer houses up for sale.
Baginskaya explains her activity by a sense of duty to her descendants.
In 2025, the basis of the charges in the criminal case against Baginskaya was administrative protocols and court decisions from 2024.
Nina Boginskaya has a number of serious illnesses and needs timely medical treatment. In prison conditions, her life could be in serious danger.
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