A Belarusian rights activist who was detained in Russia last year and extradited to Belarus last month has been officially charged in a case that rights groups say is part of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s ongoing campaign to crush any opposition to his decades-long rule.
Yana Pinchuk has been charged with inciting social hatred, creating an extremist group, as well as issuing calls to disrupt the constitutional order and inflict damage on the country’s security, the Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center said on September 12, adding that she could face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.
Pinchuk was extradited to Belarus last month. Her supporters and rights defenders insist that the charges are politically motivated to punish her for joining protests after Lukashenka was declared the winner of the country’s August 2020 presidential election despite allegations of widespread voting fraud, triggering Western sanctions.
Police in Russia's second largest city, St. Petersburg, arrested Pinchuk on November 1 last year at the request of Belarus.
Belarusian authorities accuse Pinchuk of administering the Vitsebsk97% Telegram channel, which had been critical of Lukashenka's regime and has been labeled as extremist in Belarus.
Pinchuk has rejected all of the charges saying she immediately closed the Telegram channel after it was officially designated as extremist.
She is one of many Belarusians who have faced multiple charges linked to the mass protests following Lukashenka's contested reelection.
Thousands have been arrested and much of the opposition leadership has been jailed or forced into exile. Several protesters have been killed and there have also been credible reports of torture during a widening security crackdown.
Belarusian authorities have also shut down several NGOs and independent media outlets.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the crackdown.
In December, Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Pinchuk as a political prisoner and demanded her immediate release.