Belarusian dissenters given 2,996 years in prison in 2023 – rights group

Politically-motivated sentences in Belarus totaled 2,996 years in 2023, the Viasna Human Rights Center said in its recent report. Prison terms were passed against 458 people, sentenced to a total of 1,935 years; 389 were given 854 years of restricted freedom in home confinement and 51, 106 years of restricted freedom in open-type correctional facilities.

Eighteen people were sentenced to a total of four years under arrest, with one sentence suspended. Seven people were fined 99,900 rubels (about $31,680) and five were sent for compulsory treatment.

In 2023, at least 1,603 people were convicted on politically-motivated charges, 73 percent of them male, according to Viasna. Judges in Minsk passed 57 percent of politically-motivated sentences, followed by their colleagues in the Brest and Homiel regions with 10 percent each.