Six men were sentenced to one year in prison from the restriction of their freedom to forced labour.
Human rights defenders have traditionally indicated that they consider their trials and sentences to be politically motivated and have called for the immediate release of these and all other political prisoners.
The activists also called for the decriminalization of articles about insulting the authorities, which are widely used in Belarus. On Tuesday, for example, at least two sentences were issued with restrictions of liberty (similar to house arrest) and fines for comments on social networks about police officers.
A long list of political prisoners began to appear more than a year ago, when the election campaign began before the presidential elections in Belarus. Since then, especially due to the wave of post-election protests and government-led repression, the number of arrests and convictions has increased dramatically, and the human rights situation is the worst in the history of modern Belarus.
“Food practitioner. Music junkie. Avid troublemaker. Hipster-friendly creator. Social media lover. Wannabe pop culture fanatic.”
