2024-01-11 11:56:59
Photo by Mirror reader
In 2023, at least 207 people were detained after checks at the border, the human rights center Viasna reported. Among them, in addition to Belarusians, there were citizens of Ukraine, Lithuania and Russia.
Almost all of the detainees were sentenced to “24 hours” and fines for reposting news from independent media, for “petty hooliganism” or for “picketing” with national symbols. And at least 18 of them were convicted under criminal charges, 12 of which were sent to prison, human rights activists note.
Who is persecuted and for what after returning to the country?
After crossing the border with Belarus, according to Viasna human rights activists, at least 207 people were detained for political reasons. They note that this figure could be much higher due to a lack of complete data.
The reason for prosecution may be photos from protests in 2020, donations, comments on social networks, “extremist” reposts, photos with white-red-white symbols, and even photos from solidarity rallies abroad. Security forces find all this when checking phones at the border.
It is known that most often people are detained after returning from Lithuania, but checks and detentions are carried out at all operating checkpoints, including on the border with Russia. Security forces disembark Belarusians from regular buses, meet them at bus or train stations, or come to pick them up when they return home. If the detention occurs right at the checkpoint, then the person is usually placed in the nearest police department until the trial, where a report is drawn up.
At the same time, every day, in addition to arrests, interrogations of those entering the country take place. Human rights activists know that questions from customs officers, the State Border Committee or the KGB are raised, for example, by stamps in the passport about visiting Ukraine. Also undergoing interrogation are those who are included in the “Unrest” database of security forces – the data of all those detained after the start of protests in 2020 is entered there.
“Return Commission”: how people come home by agreement with the security forces, but end up behind bars
Last year, Alexander Lukashenko announced a “principled decision” to create an interdepartmental commission to work with Belarusian emigrants, which will be headed by Prosecutor General Andrei Shved. According to Shved, the commission tells those wishing to return to Belarus about the existence of claims from government agencies and the opportunity to return without going to jail. The commission ceased its work at the end of 2023.
At the end of 2021, the security forces created the “Road Home” program, which supposedly “allows those who left to return without consequences.” At the same time, Belarusians are given certain conditions under which they can do this. This program was valid until the end of 2022.
But human rights activists know of at least three cases where, despite the “agreements,” criminal cases were brought against people.
For example, Tatyana Kurilina, administrator of protest chats, took advantage of the opportunity of the “Road Home” program. But in the end she was sentenced to four and a half years in prison under 12 articles of the Criminal Code.
Also in November 2023, 30-year-old Brest resident Igor Nemirovich was convicted, who returned to Belarus through an appeal to the “return commission.” He was sentenced to one year in prison under Part 1 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code (Insulting Lukashenko). At the same time, the court did not recognize the appeal to the commission as “an unconditional basis for the conclusion of his repentance.”
And in December 2023, propagandists published an interview with Tatyana Sobol, who reportedly also returned to Belarus through a “commission.” The woman was forced to talk about how bad she felt abroad and how she “succumbed to influence” to participate in protests in 2020. As a result, Tatyana faces trial – she is charged with the “people’s” Article 342 of the Criminal Code. She is free on bail.
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