„Crime“ and Punishment. Repression and terror

The first reports of the extraordinary brutality of the security forces appeared in August after the elections.

Doctors were the first ones who could see the atrocities of Lukashenko´s regime with their own eyes. Their peaceful protest against violations led to different forms of reprisal against them. In every society doctors are considered as highly respectable, but in Belarus apart from huge penalties, around 20 of them were fired, they have spent more than 600 days in total in prison, and this is during highest epidemic outbreak! Besides, they were ordered to pay huge penalties.

Angst and fear are the main tools of Lukashenko´s terrorist regime. People are being abducted during the day in their own yards. Searches by armed forces are carried out without any warrants, very often where the families where kids live. Some juveniles have been beaten up by the police to such a state that they needed intensive care. A lot of people tortured, some people were killed.

But not a single investigation

has been opened on all these crimes!

Repressions against people performing their direct duties. Often they are accused simply of doing their job:

a rescuer rescued, a doctor treated, a journalist covered events, a lawyer defended people.

Non-renewal of contracts and dismissals of a lot of scientists most actively involved in the work of independent trade unions.

The dismissal of a football coach who refused to sign the pro-government letter, despite the fact that he led the club to the championship.

Not renewing contracts with athletes who signed the letter for new elections.

Dismissals of cultural workers, school principals who refused to falsify elections, rectors of institutes who refused to expel students for their civic position, directors of museums, factories who do not share the "official" policy.

A daily clean-up of all those

who showed disloyalty to the regime is underway.

Arrests, trials, detentions, fines, prison terms ...

The regime is trying to clean up the most active, and intimidate the rest. As an independent analyst Chaly put it:

Repression against dissidents has become the essence of the Belarusian regime.

More than 13,000 people had to flee or have left Belarus being afraid for their lives or the lives of their families.

More than 32 thousand people

have been detained during last half a year.

What are these so-called „severe crimes“ people have committed?

• Some of them have pushed a policemen;
• some of them damaged the jacket of a policemen;
• some had intention to insult policemen;
• some painted policemen´s shield with a spray;
• painted the private house white-red-white;
• teared balaclava off riot policeman;
• tore the jacket of a police officer;
• asked the police officers to do what they are required to do by law - to introduce themselves;
• published a photo with white-red-white marshmallow;
• detained for drinking tea in his own yard;
• for a tiny gnome with white-red-white flag;
• for repost;
• for the flag of Japan;
• for a snowman;

• for a child buggy
• for balloons
• for holding a white-red-white umbrella in the hands;
• for snowflakes on the windows;
• for jogging in Santa Claus coat;
• for round dance in the forest around Christmas tree;
• for drying white-red-white clothes on the apartment balcony;

• for a dress;
• for the haircut;
• penalty and imprisonement for the trousers bought in 2014 which were made at a factory;
  

• threats to be imprisoned and fined for a paper snowman on the window on New Year's Eve;
• Invited friends to a cafe - penalty.

The striking thing about it is not so much the absurdity, sophistication and far-fetchedness of the accusations,

but the disproportionality of the sentences.

Some of the detainees were “lucky" just to get a fine (if we can put it like this, when the fines are often much higher than salaries or pensions). But most of them were kept and are still being held in prisons and holding cells in inhuman conditions.

INHUMAN CONDITIONS IN DETENTION FACILITIES

• Unheated rooms in winter, no mattresses;
• sleeping on cement floor, light also at night;
• no hot water, no possibility to take a shower;
• a bucket instead of a toilet;
  
• lice and bugs;
  
• more people in the room than allowed;
• political detainees kept together with the criminals;
• staying on the knees for hours;
• staying hands up in the cold for hours;
• psychological and physical violence, moral pressure;
• violation of any basic human rights;
• a lot of detainees report that they got Covid in prison.

As famous belarussion basketball player Elena Levchenko quoted the head of Akrestina Detention Centre:

We do everything possible to make sure that you would not like to get here again.

This list of flagrant and egregious human rights violations is endless. But all the reports of inhuman treatment were not even checked.

BYPOL initiative published a letter from Interior Minister Mr Kubrakov to the Security Council, in which he expresses dissatisfaction with the fact that the courts of Minsk sentence people to imprisonement under Article 23.34, and the courts of the Minsk region - to the penalties. The said initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was expectedly supported by the General Prosecutor Mr Shved, who ordered all prosecutors under any circumstances to seek the administrative arrest for "offenses" under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code.

HOW SENTENCING WORKS IN BELARUS

The judicial system in Belarus can be described as Assembly-line justice. The evidences of police officers as "victims" are given in balaclavas, under false names, from another room, with altered voices.

Lawyers note multiple contradictions in the testimony of witnesses. The protocols of arrests are written pattern repeatedly, with a lot of inconsistencies of facts. But all this does not prevent the “judges” to  routinely find them guilty.

Ales Bialiatski, the head of human rights center "Viasna", which was deprived of registration, speaks about

..."a humanitarian catastrophe",

..."the rule of law has disappeared, legal default in Belarus."

Oxford Languages defines

reprisals as punishment, punitive measures used by public bodies.

Terror is defined as physical violence, up to physical destruction, murder in relation to political opponents; scare tactics.

“What is happening in Belarus is by all means no longer just repression, but terror. This is precisely the massive, and often indiscriminate, use of force and violent methods in relation to the population with a clear goal: to intimidate everyone so that they “keep a low profile,” says journalist Pyotr Kuznetsov.

Our international fund “Belarus of the Future” renders all possible assistance to the victims of terror. We ask all those who care about this problem to join us and provide the support.

The staff and volunteers of the fund, together with the victims, are grateful to YOU.