Monitoring Belarus July 2023

In July, Belarusian human rights defenders recognized the following women as political prisoners: Volha Matsko, Katsiaryna Leu, Sviatlana Bakanava, Natallia Chavusava, Volha Rybina, Anastasiya Vaitsiakhovich, and Volha Piatukh. 

It has been five months since relatives or the human rights community last heard from Maryia Kalesnikava. Ms. Kalesnikava’s relatives received the last letter from the politically imprisoned politician on February 15. The relatives are not informed about the cell she is in and are not allowed to see her. 
 
Kseniya Alkenava, who made 9 donations totaling $425 in 2020-2021 through Facebook, is being tried for “financing extremist activities.” A trial was held on July 10, 2023, but the outcome has not been reported yet. Ms. Alekanava remains in pre-trial detention. 
 
Viktoryia Kachan was sentenced to 3.5 years of home confinement for “insulting” the head of Karelichi District Police Department (Hrodna voblasts) and “slandering” Lukashenka. The reason was the woman’s comments in the Telegram channel “Karelichi 97%.” 

Katsiaryna Leu was sentenced to two years in prison and additionally fined for her comments on social media. 
 
After 13 days of arrest, 53-year-old Liudmila Slutskaya was detained again. On the same day, a trial was held, the outcome of which is unknown yet.  

Lalita Kozyrava, 21, was sentenced to a year and a half of restricted freedom under home confinement for participation in peaceful protests in 2020. She was identified by her T-shirt in the video from the protests.  

Katsiaryna Yakauleva was deported to Russia immediately after her release from prison in Belarus. Ms. Yakauleva had been sentenced to a year in prison for participation in peaceful protests in 2020. The woman had lived in Belarus with Russian citizenship for more than 30 years. Immediately after her release, representatives of the regime’s law enforcement took Ms. Yakauleva to the checkpoint on the border with Russia and banned her from further entry to Belarus.  

The Ministry of Justice in Belarus revoked the licenses of lawyers Maryna Varabyova, Sviatlana Piatrouskaya, and Volha Drozd. 

Ladaryia Kuzniatsova was sentenced to one year of restricted freedom under home confinement for taking part in a peaceful rally in Fanipal, Minsk region, in August 2020. 

Volha Yaltsevich was released after serving in full her two-year prison sentence for “financing protest activities”. 

Krystsina Bulanava was fined an equivalent of 640 euros for the videos she had posted on her social networks, one of them showing her participation in peaceful protests in 2020. 

The regime’s law enforcement agencies detained Nadzeya Staravoitava, an associate professor of the Department of Belarusian and Russian Languages, Ph.D. in Philology, and Natallia Sivitskaya, a teacher of Russian language, Ph.D. in Philology. Both were accused of participating in the 2020 peaceful protests. 
 
Liudmila Sialitskaya was sentenced to 2.5 years of restricted freedom under home confinement for her activities in the social network Odnoklassniki. 

Lawyer Yuliya Yurhilevich was sentenced to six years in prison. It follows from the case file that Ms. Yurhilevich allegedly shared with the media the details of the criminal case against political prisoner Ales Pushkin, as well as the information that she herself had been disbarred. 

Alena Milayeva was sentenced to a year and a half of restricted freedom under home confinement for participating in a peaceful rally in Minsk in October 2020. She was identified by photos on the Internet. 
 
Irena Klevets was sentenced to 6 years in prison under four criminal articles, including “Incitement of hostility or discord” and “Abuse of power and authority”. 

Valiantsina Bolbat was sent to serve 30 days of administrative arrest. In total, Ms. Bolbat has been tried in administrative cases 6 times. The conditions in which she was kept have severely affected the woman’s health.  

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