Website of Unregistered Union of Poles Recognized as Extremist in Belarus | Major political events in Belarus: assessments, forecasts, comments

The information products of the internet portal znadniemna.pl, which belongs to the unregistered Union of Poles in Belarus, have been recognized as extremist materials. The Belarusian Association of Journalists announced this on Tuesday, January 4. The znadniemna.pl portal was included in the republican list of extremist materials compiled by the Ministry of Information of Belarus on the basis of the decision of the Leninsky District Court of Grodno dated December 30, 2021.

“Recognizing znadniemna.pl as an extremist portal, the regime (Alexander Lukashenko. – Ed.) fights against the right of Poles who live in Belarus or come from Belarus to freely express their views and share information about the situation of the Polish minority in the country, “the Union of Poles in Belarus commented on this decision.

Criminal case against the chairman of the Union of Poles

In March 2021, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus announced the opening of a criminal case against the chairman of the Union of Poles in Belarus Anzhelika Boris and other persons under the article on inciting racial, ethnic or religious hatred and hatred. The members of the organization were searched. The defendants face 5 to 12 years in prison.

Editor of the portal znadniemna.pl Andrzej Pisalnik

In total, five representatives of the union were detained under this article. In addition to Angelica Boris, these are Andrei Pochobut, Maria Tishkovskaya, Irena Bernatskaya and Anna Panisheva. In April, the editors of the organization’s website Andrzej Pisalnik and Inessa Todrik-Pisalnik were forced to leave Belarus due to the threat of arrest. In early June, it became known about the release of Tishkovskaya, Bernatskaya and Panisheva and their arrival in Poland.

Polish educational centers in Belarus were also subjected to pressure – checks were carried out in them, and a Polish school in Brest was liquidated. Warsaw accused Minsk of persecuting Poles on ethnic grounds.

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Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Record for political prisoners in Belarus
Over 900 – such a record number of political prisoners in the history of the country is quoted by the human rights center “Viasna”. Among those who ended up in prison due to political persecution are presidential campaign participants, volunteers of their headquarters, public activists, businessmen, bloggers and journalists, human rights activists, political analysts, workers, students and many other critics of the Lukashenka regime.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Victor and Edward Babariko
A presidential contender, ex-head of Belgazprombank Viktor Babariko could become Lukashenka’s strongest rival in the elections. He was detained along with his son Eduard, who led his initiative group, in June 2020 on charges of money laundering, bribery and tax evasion. On July 6, 2021, Viktor Babariko was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Maria Kolesnikova
Musician and art director Maria Kolesnikova headed the election headquarters of Viktor Babariko. Then she became one of the “three graces” who headed the Joint Headquarters of the opposition. Member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council. She was kidnapped and brought to the border with Ukraine for expulsion from the country. But she tore up my passport and thwarted this operation. In September 2021, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
To jail – for legal aid
Lawyer of Viktor Babariko’s headquarters, member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council Maxim Znak (pictured) and lawyer of Maria Kolesnikova Ilya Salei were detained in September 2020 in the case of public calls to action to the detriment of national security. Ilya Salei was released on bail in April. Maxim Znak became a defendant in a criminal case on the seizure of power. In September 2021, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Sergei Tikhanovsky
The author of the popular YouTube channel “Country for Life” Sergei Tikhanovsky wanted to run for the presidency of the Republic of Belarus, but was detained before the start of the election campaign. As a result, his wife Svetlana put forward her candidacy. When he was released after administrative arrest, he helped collect signatures for her, but in May 2020 he was arrested. In December 2021, he was sentenced to 18 years in a closed trial.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Country for Life activists
Within the framework of the “Country for Life” project, Tikhanovsky traveled to the regions of Belarus and gave an opportunity to local residents to tell about their problems. Opposition politician Nikolai Statkevich – 14 years in prison, cameraman Artem Sakov and social media moderator Dmitry Popov – 16 years, bloggers Vladimir Tsyganovich and Igor Losik – 15 years in a maximum security colony were also convicted in the “Tikhanovsky case”.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Igor Losik
The founder of the Telegram channel “Belarus of the Brain” Igor Losik actively covered the events around the election campaign of the President of Belarus. Detained in June 2020. He was accused of organizing and preparing actions to the detriment of public order. Then – in “preparation for participation in mass riots.” In 2020, he held two hunger strikes in protest, the first for more than 40 days.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Bloggers behind bars
Other bloggers were also subjected to political persecution. Sergei Petrukhin (pictured) and Alexander Kabanov (“People’s Reporter”) – 3 years in prison. Sergei Korshun and Sergei Yaroshevich (“Army with the People”) – 4.5 and 5.5 years old. Vladimir Neronsky (“Slutsk for Life”) – 3 years old, Dmitry Kozlov (“Gray Cat”) – 5 years old, Denis Gutin (“Drivers-97”) – 2.5 years old. Nikolay Dedok – 5 years old. Eduard Palchis is being tried.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Leaders of the “old” opposition
Co-founder of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party Pavel Sevyarynets (pictured) was detained in June 2020 after pickets to collect signatures for nominating presidential candidates. Later he was given 7 years in prison. The leader of the Belarusian Popular Front party Grigory Kastusev is accused by the authorities of an attempted coup. He has been in jail since April 2021. He was diagnosed with cancer behind bars.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Human rights defenders targeted by the authorities
Human rights defenders were also persecuted by the Belarusian authorities. Employees of the Viasna human rights center are in custody, including its head Ales Bialiatski (pictured) and deputy Valentin Stefanovich. Prominent human rights activist Leonid Sudalenko paid fines to people detained for participating in the protests. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Independent media staff
Media manager Andrei Alexandrov (pictured) was detained on suspicion of financing the protests. He paid the protesters’ fines. Currently, about 30 media representatives are in custody, including the Tut.by portal and the Nasha Niva publication. Employees of the “Press Club” spent 8 months in the pre-trial detention center. Since December 2020, ex-BT journalist Ksenia Lutskina, who is experiencing serious health problems, remains in custody.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Katerina Borisevich
Journalists also fell victim to political repression. Katerina Borisevich (Tut.by portal) spent 6 months in prison. In her article, she wrote that there was no alcohol in the blood of Roman Bondarenko, who died after being beaten by Lukashenka’s supporters, contrary to the claims of the authorities. This information was given to her by the doctor of the emergency hospital Artem Sorokin, now also a political prisoner.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Katerina Andreeva and Daria Chultsova
Journalists from the Polish TV channel Belsat Katerina Andreeva and Darya Chultsova were streaming during the brutal dispersal of the protesters by the security forces in the Minsk courtyard, known as “Change Square” – and received two years in prison. They were accused of organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Student activists
Students were expelled or subjected to administrative arrests for protests. And 12 defendants in the “student case”, including Olga Filatchenkova, a traitor to BSUIR, and Alana Gebremariam, a medical university graduate (pictured), were accused of “active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order” and were imprisoned for a term of 2 to 2.5 years.

Political prisoners in Belarus are prisoners of Lukashenka’s regime
Disproportionate response to protesters
Several dozen political prisoners are accused of participating in mass riots or using violence against police officers. According to human rights activists, peaceful protests did not pose a threat to national or public security. Certain cases of violence against the police require a separate legal qualification – in the context of self-defense against disproportionate actions of the security forces.
Author: Yanina Moroz