Student Vinakurau escapes to Lithuania


Artsyom Vinakurau crossed the border a month ago – on the day of the appeal hearing in his criminal case.

The student community “Peaceful BSUIR” reported on May 11 that Artsyom Vinakurau, a student of BSUIR, recognized as a political prisoner, had left Belarus. In an interview with the community, he said that he had done so a month before. Now he is safe.

Vinakurau was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for disrupting a lecture. The reason for the criminal prosecution was the fact that on October 26, 2020, he walked into the classroom where Dean Leanid Shylin was teaching and called on students to join the nationwide strike. Vinakurau was detained for this on October 28, and the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case. At the trial, the student was found guilty under part 1 of article 342 of the Criminal Code (“Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate the public order”). However, Belarusian human rights activists called the verdict politically motivated and recognized Vinakurau as a political prisoner.

Vinakurau says he knew that if he went to serve his sentence of freedom restriction in an open institution, he could quickly “commit” three “violations” and be sent to harsher conditions. Nevertheless, in the time given to appeal his sentence, he managed to travel to Vilnius and crossed the border “through fields, through forests.” Lithuanian border guards, he says, met him with understanding, as he was not the first such refugee.

At the time of publication, 370 people recognized as political prisoners remain in Belarusian prisons, colonies, and detention centers. In addition, human rights defenders continue to review many other cases for political persecution.

belsat.eu

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