A district courtroom in Minsk sentenced a dissident Belarusian rock band to 2 and a part years of correctional labour on Friday after being convicted of lively participation in team movements that grossly violate public order, in step with human rights team Mayday Workforce. The band has been at the back of bars since their arrest in January.
The 3 participants of the band, Nizkiz, had been convicted underneath Article 342 of the Felony Courtroom in an ordeal that started on March nineteenth. Beneath this text, Pass judgement on Alena Zhivitsa convicted Alyaksandr Ilyin, Siarhei Kulsha and Dzmitry Khalyaukin within the Kastrychnytsky district courtroom of Minsk for his or her alleged participation in anti-government protests in 2020. On most sensible in their sentence of 2 and part years of correctional labour, the 3 people had been additionally added to the Belarusian Ministry of Interior Affairs’ checklist of extremists.
The participants of Nizkiz have confronted opposition from Belarusian government since 2020, when protests erupted in Belarus after President Alexander Lukashenko secured his 6th time period in administrative center. Government underneath Lukashenko used violence towards protestors in reaction and arrested hundreds of people for his or her movements. Nizkix launched a tune titled “Regulations,” which was once utilized by protestors to oppose Lukashenko’s authorities and dispute the election. The band additionally filmed a tune video at one of the vital demonstrations.
Ilyin, Kulsha and Khalyaukin had been arrested for his or her participation in those protests in January 2024, and then a legal case was once opened towards them they usually had been transferred to a pre-trial detention middle. They remained there till the belief in their trial. Belarusian human rights organizations declared the people political prisoners in February 2024.
Beneath Lukashenko’s authorities, those that oppose him have face popular oppression in Belarus. Viasna estimates there are lately 1,387 political prisoners in Belarus, together with bloggers, businessmen, activists for different presidential applicants and protesters. Nearly all of those prisoners had been detained following the disputed elections in 2020.
