A court in Minsk has sentenced a noted art manager and founder of a popular shop selling Belarusian national symbols to 13 years in prison on high treason and other charges.
Judge Zhanna Brysina of the Minsk City Court sentenced Paval Belavus on May 11 after finding him guilty of treason, leading an extremist group, calling for actions against national security, and participating in actions that blatantly disrupt social order.
Belavus, who went on trial in February, was arrested in mid-November 2021 amid a crackdown on mass anti-government protests against the official result of an August 2020 presidential election that announced the country's authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, as the winner.
The trial was held behind closed doors.
The Investigative Committee of Belarus has said that Belavus "used thoughts of cultural and historic development in openly available social networks and websites to distribute ideas of Belarusian nationalism with a goal to change the state government of Belarus."
The charge of leading an extremist group stemmed from Belavus being the head of an organization called the Belarusian Culture Council. Belarusian authorities recognized the group as extremist while Belavus was in pretrial detention for seven months.
Belavus is a well-known art manager in Belarus. In 2011, he and his colleagues established an educational platform called Art Syadziba (Art Homestead) that organized concerts, entertainment events, and lectures promoting Belarusian language and culture.
The 35-year-old Belavus is also known for his shop called Symbal.by that sells items with Belarusian national symbols. During the COVID pandemic in 2020, the shop produced and distributed medical masks among citizens and medical personnel.
In 2020, Belavus established another group called Hodna (Worthy) to promote Belarusian traditions, culture, and language among youth.