Remember Vaitsyakhouski from Baranavichy, who quietly returned through Shved's commission? He was still convicted
The former founder of the Baranavichy newspaper was tried on four political criminal charges.
The name of activist Anatol Vaitsyakhouski, who returned to Belarus from political emigration at the beginning of the year, has appeared on the police 'list of extremists'. Before this, he and his neighbor Uladzimir User took part in a propaganda film by BT. And after User's death, Vaitsyakhouski wrote to the commission for return. Right at the border, he gave another interview to BT.
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As it turned out, Vaitsyakhouski was still convicted — immediately under four political articles:
- Part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code — 'Calls for sanctions'.
- Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code — 'Defamation of Lukashenka'.
- Part 2 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code — 'Insulting Lukashenka'.
- Part 1 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code — 'Facilitating extremist activity'.
The minimum he could have received under these articles was four years in a penal colony. However, Vaitsyakhouski was given restricted freedom (home confinement).
Nevertheless, he remains an 'extremist' with all the restrictions that come with this status.
Before the post-election protests of 2020, Vaitsyakhouski lived with his family in Baranavichy, for some time working at the district telecommunication node. In the mid-1990s, Vaitsyakhouski became one of the founders of the local newspaper 'Shag' (Step). It was one of the first private newspapers in the city and once one of the most popular, with a circulation reaching 11,000 copies. Later, it was reformatted into a purely advertising publication. In the early 2000s, Vaitsyakhouski left journalism and became an entrepreneur. He was involved in medicine and health products.
In 2023, Vaitsyakhouski was detained by GUBOP (Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime) for Anatol's comments on Telegram against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the violence of the security forces, but when he was released, he promptly evacuated abroad with the help of 'Bysol'.