“The authorities are trying to make the very word ‘sanctions’ instill fear”: at least 188 people were convicted in Belarus for calling for them.
Over the past four years, at least 188 people have been convicted in Belarus under Article 361 of the Criminal Code for “calls for restrictive measures (sanctions) and other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus” (hereinafter referred to as “calls for sanctions”). This criminal provision became one of the tools of repression after the 2020 protests, allowing punishments for statements on social media. Most convicts received long terms in penal colonies; some were sentenced in absentia. Not only activists and politicians fall under persecution, but also representatives of various professions — lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders, doctors, and entrepreneurs. Lawyers call the article an instrument of political repression that does not comply with international human rights standards, and the persecution under it — intimidation of people. Viasna reports who is persecuted in Belarus for “calling for sanctions,” and the legal service comments on this vicious practice.
https://spring96.org/en/news/117588
Members of the European Parliament have signed this week 846 postcards to Belarusian political prisoners.
Starting from Monday up until Thursday morning European politicians of all committees and political groups were signing individual postcards to Belarusian Political Prisoners. A total number of 846 was collected, the highest number in the history of the project since 2022.
Nobel Prize winner and political prisoner Ales Bialiatski once said, “A postcard from a friend is a ray of light in a dark prison cell.” The representatives of the European Parliament remember about Ales and other heroes of Belarusian and hence — European fight for freedom.
https://spring96.org/en/news/117606
Latvian man sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony for “discrediting Belarus” and “calling for sanctions.”
In the Minsk Regional Court, Latvian citizen Yurys Ganins was sentenced to six years of medium security imprisonment in a penal colony under three articles of the Criminal Code: “discrediting Belarus” (Articles 369-1 of the Criminal Code), “slandering Lukashenka” (Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code), and “calls for sanctions” (Part 2 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code). Judge Aliaksandr Rybakou handed down the verdict on February 19, but it became known only now.
https://spring96.org/en/news/117599