On 20 June, 2023, the Minsk City Court sentenced the woman human rights defender Nasta (Anastasia) Loika to
seven years in general security prison. The trial was closed to the
public, and the details of the court hearings are unknown. Alyona
Shilko, the judge of the Minsk City Court, found her guilty of
“incitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or
discord” (Article 130, Part 3 of the Belarusian Criminal Code). These
accusations are based on the contribution Loika made in 2018 to a report
that assessed human rights violations by law enforcement officers
during state-sponsored persecution of the anarchist community in
Belarus. The judicial process was rushed, the sentence was announced
during the third court hearing over eight days.
Fifteen international and Belarusian human rights organizations call for Nasta Loika’s immediate and unconditional release.
Nasta Loika is a prominent
Belarusian woman human rights defender working in the field of human
rights education. She also analyzes repressive “anti-extremist” laws,
and advocates for the protection of the rights of migrants and stateless
people in Belarus. In the summer of 2021, Belarusian authorities shut
down Human Constanta, the organization where she previously worked, as
part of an orchestrated attack against civil society in the country.
Human Constanta promoted public interests and joint actions in response
to current human rights challenges in Belarus. In 2022, the Barys
Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House named Nasta Loika the human
rights defender of the year.
Nasta Loika was arrested on 28
October, 2022 and has been arbitrarily detained ever since. On 31
October, 2022, the Pieršamajski District Court in Minsk sentenced her to
15 days of administrative arrest under bogus “petty hooliganism”
charges (under Article 19.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The
authorities then extended her detention three times.
During the 58 days of administrative
arrest the authorities tortured Nasta, treated her inhumanely, and
denied her the right to receive medication and warm clothes, and access
legal help. Her mother’s house was raided in November 2022.
On 24 December, 2022, Belarusian law
enforcement officials transferred Nasta Loika to Pre-trial Detention
Center No.1 in Minsk. At first, the prosecutor accused her of violating
Criminal Code Articles 130 Part 3 “incitement of racial, national,
religious or other social enmity or discord” and also Article 342.1,
“organizing of group activities that gravely violate public order.”
Ultimately, the prosecutor dropped the second charge.
The Belarus authorities also targeted human rights lawyers, who acted as Nasta Loika’s defense attorneys. In November 2022, Tatsiana Lishankova
was detained and subsequently lost her license to practice law. In
March 2023, the Qualification Commission under the Justice Ministry
refused to pass the qualification examination of another one of her
defense lawyers, Inessa Olenskaya, which will lead to her eventual disbarment.
The undersigned human rights
organizations consider this targeting of human rights lawyers working on
Nasta Loika’s defense a flagrant violation of the human rights
defender’s right to defense, as well as a violation of the lawyers’
right to exercise their profession.
The police first detained Loika on 6
September, 2022 near the Minsk City Court, when she arrived to show
support for two human rights defenders – Maria Rabkova, who was sentenced that day to 15 years in prison, and Andrey Chapiuk. She was temporarily released on 5 October, 2022, only to be detained again on 28 October.
The undersigned organizations
condemn the arrest and verdict against Nasta Loika. We believe
Belarusian authorities are targeting her for her peaceful and legitimate
human rights work. We condemn the physical and psychological torture
Loika was subjected to during her time in administrative arrest and in
pre-trial detention. Her sentencing reflects the systemic aggravated
attacks against Belarus's human rights defenders and civil society by
Belarusian authorities. We call for the immediate and unconditional
release of human rights defender Nasta Loika.
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