Imprisonment for human rights monitoring work
On June 20, the Minsk City Court passed a verdict in the case of human rights activist Anastasiya (Nasta) Loika. The political prisoner was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment under Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code (inciting social hatred). These accusations are based on the contribution Nasta made in 2018 to a report that assessed human rights violations by law enforcement officers “Persecution of anarchists, anti-fascists, leftists and social activists in Belarus” (2017-August 2018)”. It allegedly contained a critical assessment of the activities of police. The trial was held behind closed doors, so the details and Nasta’s position in court are unknown.
Nasta was first detained on September 6, 2022. The human rights defender was initially released but was soon arrested again after a house search. A “repentance video” of Nasta then appeared on pro-government telegram channels, in which she “confesses” to allegedly “receiving funding from foreign organisations.”
According to the prosecutor’s office, one of the human rights reports focusing on the persecution of the anarchist community in Belarus in 2018, prepared by Nasta, contained a negative assessment of the illegal actions of police officers, which caused the initiation of a criminal case against her. The report allegedly incited hatred against a “professional social group of law enforcement officers.” Human rights activists say that this interpretation of the article does not comply with international human rights standards, as evidenced by the practice of international judicial bodies.
Almost at the beginning of the trial, the hearing was closed to the public. This decision was made by the court at the request of prosecutor. It was motivated by the need “to exclude the dissemination of information products calling for extremist activities.” Nasta and her lawyer objected to that decision, but the judge granted the prosecutor’s request.
16 international and Belarusian human rights organisations have called for Nasta’s immediate and unconditional release, for more click here. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders have also strongly criticised the verdict saying that Nasta should not have been prosecuted and imprisoned for her legitimate human rights work.
Background
Since the 2021 campaign of " purges", mass de-legalisation of hundreds Belarusian CSOs continues to this day. As of June 2023, the Lawtrend list contains the data on 1332 CSOs of different forms, which are either under forced liquidation or have decided to liquidate themselves due to the inability to continue operations under harsh legal and political environmental conditions.
The relentless crackdown on dissenting voices also continues. Thousands of politically motivated sentences have been made against civic activists, journalists, human rights defenders, protesters or ordinary citizens who disagree with the Belarusian authorities or disseminate information the authorities do not like, which is interpreted by the government as " hate speech" or "extremist". At the end of June, 2023 the Belarusian human rights community reported 1,496 political prisoners, now held in prisons in Belarus. But many hundreds of people remain off these lists due to lack of information and closed court cases, as well as due to obstacles and pressure on human rights monitoring groups, which themselves become targets of attacks and criminal prosecution.