{"id":8628,"date":"2021-09-17T18:30:18","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T18:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/?p=8628"},"modified":"2021-09-19T18:36:11","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T18:36:11","slug":"sumesnaya-zayava-pravaabaronchyh-arganizaczyj-belarusi-ab-pryznanni-dzevyaczi-novyh-palitvyaznyau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2021\/09\/17\/sumesnaya-zayava-pravaabaronchyh-arganizaczyj-belarusi-ab-pryznanni-dzevyaczi-novyh-palitvyaznyau.html","title":{"rendered":"Human rights defenders call to release 9 more persons prosecuted on defamation charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

In response to the new cases of conviction, imprisonment and pre-trial detention of individuals on defamation charges, we, representatives of the Belarusian human rights community, once again reaffirming our repeated calls to decriminalize defamation and refrain from imprisoning individuals for insulting officials, the state, state bodies and symbols (joint statement of December 22, 2020<\/a>), we note the following.<\/p>\n

We have received information about the following persons imprisoned for insulting the president, government officials (police officers), judges and state symbols, as well as the use of other permissible forms of expression:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dzmitry Taratun<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced on May 14, 2021 to three years of restricted freedom in an open penitentiary (\u201ckhimiya\u201d) under Part 2 of Article 339 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism) for spray-painting protest graffiti on the wall of a building; the convict was sent to serve the sentence;<\/p>\n

Iryna Vikkholm<\/strong> \u2013 charged under Article 367 of the Criminal Code (slander against the president); taken into custody in a pre-trial detention center;<\/p>\n

Andrei Astratsou<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a penal colony under Article 368 (insulting the president), Art. 369 (insulting a representative of the authorities), Art. 366 (threat of violence against an official), and Art. 364 of the Criminal Code (threat of violence against a police officer) for commenting on a Telegram channel;<\/p>\n

Artsiom Sokal<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced to one year and six months in a penal colony under Part 1 of Article 367 (slander against the president) and Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president) for distributing a message in a Telegram chat;<\/p>\n

Kanstantsin Dudzikau<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced to one year and six months of restricted freedom in an open penitentiary (\u201ckhimiya\u201d) under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a representative of the authorities); the convict was sent to serve the sentence;<\/p>\n

Artsiom Shalehin<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced to two years of restricted freedom in an open penitentiary (\u201ckhimiya\u201d) under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a representative of the authorities); the convict was sent to serve the sentence;<\/p>\n

Aliaksei Alikin<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced to two years of restricted freedom in an open penitentiary (\u201ckhimiya\u201d) under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a representative of the authorities); the convict was sent to serve the sentence;<\/p>\n

Yauhen Piatrou<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced to one year in a penal colony under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president);<\/p>\n

Uladzimir Kuzub<\/strong> \u2013 sentenced to three years of restricted freedom in an open penitentiary (\u201ckhimiya\u201d) under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a representative of the authorities); the convict was sent to serve the sentence.<\/p>\n

In this regard, we consider their persecution and imprisonment to be\u00a0politically motivated<\/strong>, as they are related to the peaceful exercise of expression. The convicts are therefore\u00a0political prisoners<\/strong>\u00a0in accordance with paragraph 3.1 (a) of the\u00a0Guidelines on the Definition of Political Prisoners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We call on the Belarusian authorities to:<\/strong><\/p>\n