It should be noted that Maksim Viniarski is a principled and long-standing opponent of the current political regime.
For his exclusively peaceful political activity, Viniarski has been repeatedly repressed by the authorities, including through fines, short terms in prison, beatings and intimidation.
We assess the persecution of Maksim Viniarski as politically motivated, as it is related solely to his exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, and also to his opposition beliefs, and recognize him as a political prisoner. // 01.02.2021
Human rights work is a legitimate public activity, and harassment for such activities is an absolutely unacceptable and gross violation of human rights by the authorities.
Based on this, we consider the persecution of Tatsiana Lasitsa to be politically motivated, as it is only aimed at stopping her public and non-violent activities seeking the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Tatsiana Lasitsa is therefore a political prisoner, according to paragraph 3.1 (b) of the Guidelines on the Definition of Political Prisoners. // 01.02.2021
The monitoring of the court hearings also revealed other violations of the principles of a fair trial, most notably, the presumption of innocence and equality before the court. // 29.01.2021
We recall that the facility ceased to accept parcels for persons under administrative arrest since 27 January, citing as reasons the will to reduce the risks of COVID 19. In our opinion, there are other means of reducing these risks. For example, the Ministry of Health recommends practicing respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, social distancing, frequent aeration and sanitizing, avoiding common-use tableware, etc. // 29.01.2021
More than 80 issues are divided into two sections: issues related to the institutional framework for combating torture and ill-treatment, and issues related to the events of August 9-13, 2020 and the following months in connection with the post-election protests. // 27.01.2021