The Viasna Human Rights Center recognized Aksana Zaretskaya, Ilona Zaitsava, Volha Karakina, Hanna Liviant, Yuliya Liviant, Hanna Kavaluiva, Alla Novikava, Liudmila Kohan, Sviatlana Bychkouskaya, Aliaksandra Zakharyk, Vera Mamoika, and Tatsiana Dubatouka as political prisoners in February.

Throughout 2022 and early 2023, law enforcement bodies detained at least 58 people upon their return to Belarus from abroad. One of the returned Belarusians, Tatsiana Kurylina, now faces 15 years in prison as she is being tried under 10 criminal articles despite promises of munity.

Vera Mamoika and her husband, an elder of the Baptist church, were detained within the framework of a criminal case. The evidence used against them consists of their photos from the peaceful 2020 protests in Belarus.

Animal rights activist Alena Mirashnichenka was arrested and immediately sentenced to 15-day arrest for an “unauthorized public demonstration.” She used social media to invite the residents of her building to a tea party outside to celebrate the opening of a cat house.

Another criminal case was initiated against political prisoner Alena Hnauk, sentenced to three years in a medium-security prison over “malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of the correctional institution.” In addition, she was deprived of almost all parcels, phone calls, and visits, with her shopping limit in the local store cut threefold, from three base values to one (€12).

Two women from Minsk, Darya Hanich, 18, and Katsiaryna Snihirova, were convicted of “desecration of state symbols” after they removed the official flag from a building. Hanich was sentenced to three months of arrest, Snihirova to a year and a half of home confinement.

Alina Audzienka was sentenced to three years of home confinement over her participation in the 2020 peaceful protests in Belarus.

In February, the trial began over politically imprisoned political expert Valeryia Kastsiuhova and researcher Tatsiana Kuzina after 20 months of their arrest.

The regime detained Anastasiya Sharkevich, who works for Narodnaya Volia newspaper. This independent publication has been under repression since 2020.

The trial began over political prisoner Natallia Dulina. Dulina worked as an assistant professor at Minsk State Linguistic University and has been targeted by repression over her activism. She could face up to six years in prison. At least six law enforcement officers took part in detaining Dulina. Last year she was on trial four times on political grounds.

Katsiaryna Yakauleva was sentenced to a year of imprisonment over her participation in peaceful protests in 2020.

Hanna Smalian was sentenced to two and a half years of home confinement for her participation in the 2020 peaceful protest marches. The police used photos found on her phone as evidence.

Tatsiana Zhurauskaya, the head of the public association “People Plus,” which helps people affected by HIV, managed to flee Belarus after her detention.

Liudmila Kohan, 68, will be tried under a criminal article, allegedly for writing a “No to War” inscription on a bus stop with a felt-tip pen.

Krystsina Viachorkina, a mother of three minor children, was sentenced to three years of home confinement for participating in peaceful protests in 2020.

The court convicted several members of the Belarusian workers’ movement “Rabochy Rukh,” which had emerged after the rigged presidential elections in 2020. Political prisoner Hanna Ablab was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment.

Maryia Zhuk and her husband, Andrei, stood trial. Andrei Zhuk is the owner of the Minsk bar “Banki-Butylki”. In the summer the bar hosted a performance by singer Meryem Herasimenka, who sang a song of the Ukrainian band Okean Elzy. Herasimenka was detained the same evening. The owner of the bar and his wife were detained the next day. The regime considered the performance of a Ukrainian band’s song as an anti-war protest. Meryem Herasimenka was sentenced to three years of home confinement. Maryia Zhuk was released after 6 months of her arrest had been credited towards her punishment, the sentence is unknown yet.

The regime in Belarus continues systematic repressions against lawyers and attorneys by revoking their licenses to prevent them from representing Belarusians in politically motivated cases. In February, Tatsiana Kavalevich, Aksana Belaya, Natallia Voukava, and Volha Dziamidchyk were deprived of their licenses.

Zhanna Paulovich, a 54-year-old social worker, was sentenced to two years of home confinement for allegedly insulting the person calling himself the president of Belarus.

As of February 2023, 1,225 Belarusian NGOs have either been shut down or entered the liquidation procedure in the result of the massive crackdown on civil society that started in the summer of 2021. Some NGOs, including human rights organizations, have managed to resume their activities abroad.