The law enforcement system of Belarus has completely turned into a factory of repressions. In less than five months last year, more than 25,000 people were detained in Belarus. They spent more than 227 years in prison and paid nearly $ 700,000 in fines. Human Rights Center “Viasna” summed up the sad results of the post-election period.
Food, clothing, hygiene products. Veranika brought these things to her husband’s remand prison in Akrestsin Street. On the evening of January 5, he went out to the local food store to never return. He was detained near his house in Uruchcha district during a raid. Thursday is the only day of the week when parcels are accepted in the remand prison. However, today the procedure was canceled. Allegedly because of the covid.
“This is the edge, we have already understood that there is no bottom in Belarus, and it can be pushed through indefinitely. But at least somewhere you can cling to some rocks. It’s just arbitrariness,” the prisoner’s wife said indignantly.
According to human rights activists, 26 court hearings took place after the January 5 detentions. The cases of nine people were sent to the police department for revision due to the poor preparation. Meanwhile, the detainees were not released. Police can hold them for 72 hours.
“Now there are many cases when people are detained for 72 hours. That’s three days. And then the court decides to fine him or her. In fact, a person receives a double punishment,” Natallia Satsukevich from the human rights center Viasna emphasizes.
Meanwhile, about 20 participants in the March of Wisdom, which took place on December 14, were later summoned to court. About a hundred people were detained near the Christmas tree. After a few hours, most were released from the police station. Four people were taken to Akrestsin Street jail, convicted and fined.
Human Rights Center “Viasna” compiled statistics of protests. In less than five post-election months, more than 25,000 people have been detained across Belarus. More than 1,000 of them have been detained twice or thrice. In total, Belarusian courts have made almost 7,000 arrests and ruled 4,000 fines. There were only 87 warnings and about 20 dismissed cases. In total, the Belarusians spent about 83,000 days in prison, or 227 years, and paid the state almost 1,800,000 rubles in fines.
“The numbers we see now are tens of times, thousands of times bigger than they were before. If you consider the geography of the repressed, of course, most of the repressed come from Minsk, but in every city of Belarus there are cases of repression. This proves that there was also protest activity there,” Natallia Satsukevich notes.
According to human rights activists, more than 380 people were beaten and about 490 were hospitalized during the detentions. At least 10 people were shot and 5 were killed. Meanwhile, no criminal case has been filed against the security forces.
“These are horrible numbers. They reflect very well the scale of the protests taking place in Belarus and the scale of the repressions against the people,” the representative of the Viasna Center stressed.
Criminal proceedings have been instituted against our colleagues – journalists Katsyaryna Andreyeva, Darya Chultsova and Katsyaryna Barysevich. Human rights activists recognized them and 169 other people as political prisoners.
Ihar Stankevich, Belsat
