AP PHOTOS: Belarus political prisoners, from teen to retiree

Kiev, Ukraine –

Human rights activists describe the political repression in Belarus as the worst since the purges of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in the 1930s.

In the year since President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in an election seen as sham by the opposition and the West, the authorities have launched a multi-pronged crackdown on dissent. In response to mass protests, police arrested more than 35,000 people and beat thousands of demonstrators.

Belarusians from all walks of life in the former Soviet nation, which Lukashenko has ruled with an iron fist since 1994, must be imprisoned for expressing dissatisfaction with the authoritarian leader’s long reign. The 608 people who identify human rights groups as political prisoners include students, doctors, journalists, industrial workers, retirees and others from all walks of life.

MIKITA ZALATAROU

The 17-year-old from the city of Gomel was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in juvenile detention in February for participating in protests.

Zalatarou and two of his friends were arrested the day after the presidential election for throwing Molotov cocktails at police during a protest in the city. He denied the allegations.

During the trial, Zalatarou, who has epilepsy, said he was refused medication and was beaten in prison. The country’s top state investigative agency, the Belarus Investigative Committee, which has criminal prosecution powers over pre-trial criminal proceedings, rejected Zalatarou’s father’s request to investigate the beatings.

“They kill him by refusing him medication,” said the father, Mikhail Lapunou. “You give them to him one day out of two, and he needs them every morning and every evening. If he does not receive it, his condition worsens and his brain cells die. “

VOLHA ZALATAR

The 38-year-old mother of five children between the ages of 4 and 17 has been in custody since March and is awaiting trial for founding an “extremist organization”. She was arrested on the street while taking her 10-year-old daughter to music school. If convicted, she faces seven years’ imprisonment.

After the presidential elections in Belarus in August 2020, Zalatar moderated a local group through a messaging app in the city of Zhdanovichy and organized concerts, parties and walks. Investigators said the activities were “unsanctioned mass gatherings”.

Zalatar’s husband spent 10 days in prison for showing the red and white flag of the Belarusian opposition in the window of their apartment.

“Despite the high walls and barred windows, I feel free,” wrote Zalatar in a letter from prison. “I believe that everything will be fine with our family and with our country. I had a unique experience and met some extraordinary people. “

YAUHEN HOVAR

Hovar, 42, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in February for staging a strike at the metal factory where he worked and a street protest in the eastern city of Zhlobin. had organized

A week after the election, he and other workers at the BMZ steelworks blocked a street to protest against election fraud and violence against demonstrators.

Hovar helped organize a labor dispute at the plant and was among the workers who called for a nationwide strike.

ANDREI LIUBETSKI

The 47-year-old cosmetic surgeon has been in custody since May on charges of insulting the president.

Liubetski has been working in a children’s hospital in the capital Minsk for 18 years. If convicted, he faces a five-year prison sentence.

During the mass demonstrations sparked by Lukashenko’s re-election, Liubetski volunteered to provide medical care to demonstrators who had been beaten by the police. He also criticized the authorities on Facebook for calling for an end to corruption, abuse of power and political repression.

“This government is already dead,” he wrote on Facebook. “Anyone involved in counterfeiting, abuse and other crimes should better prepare their guilty admission.”

The doctor’s wife fled Belarus with the couple’s four children.

ALANA GEBREMARIAM

The 24-year-old student activist was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last month for organizing a student strike.

Gebremariam, who headed the Belarusian Students’ Association, was arrested along with dozens of others in October after a wave of student strikes across the country. She was accused of “organizing actions that grossly offend against public order”.

“There is a great power hidden within each of us that will ultimately tear down all obstacles in the way of change,” Gebremariam said in a Facebook post shortly before her arrest. “The desire for freedom and justice cannot be closed or taken away. This power is always in us – in every word, every step and every thought. “

DZIANIS MARUSEVICH

The 26-year-old former member of the Belarusian national karate team is serving a four-year prison sentence for participating in protests.

Marusevich was one of thousands of Belarusian athletes who supported the post-election protests. He was arrested in September and accused of throwing bits of asphalt at police officers and kicking a police vehicle during a protest in Brest, a town on the Belarusian border with Poland.

“I couldn’t stand aside as I kneeled girls and the elderly in front of the police and begged not to hit them because they are not enemies,” Marusevich wrote in a letter to his mother.

His mother, Liudmila Marusevich, said she saw police in Brest use stun grenades to disperse protesters who protested the controversial election results, which Lukasenko showed with 80% of the vote.

MARYNA ZOLATAVA

The 43-year-old editor-in-chief of the most popular Belarusian media company Tut.by is one of 29 journalists currently serving prison sentences or on remand.

Before authorities shut down Tut.by and arrested Zolatava in May, it had made the online portal the most widely read news source in Belarus, reaching an estimated 62% of the country’s population.

Widely regarded as one of the most talented journalists in the country, Zolatava, a married mother of two teenagers, was arrested along with 14 other Tut.by journalists. They are accused of tax evasion and face up to 12 years imprisonment if convicted.

“We were deeply impressed by what we learned about torture,” said Zolatava in an interview published shortly after last year’s election about the police mistreatment of the protesters. “The police officers treated people cruelly and without people. We saw violence causing shock and fear, but we also saw crowds of people coming together and helping each other, and that gives energy. “

YUZEF NIAMERA

The 63-year-old pensioner from the city of Grodno was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison after intervening to protect a woman from being beaten by the police.

In September he took part in a protest in the city near the Polish border, which police scattered with stun grenades and clubs. During the raid, he urged police officers to beat a woman with batons.

Niamera, who took care of his 91-year-old mother prior to his arrest and detention, was convicted of “violence against the police” and “gross violation of public order”.