Belarusian activist Yana Pinchuk, accused of creating several opposition channels on Telegram, which the Belarusian court deemed “extremists”, is being transferred to Belarus, where she faces up to 20 years in prison. On the Telegram channel “Free Yana Pinchuk!” reported on Tuesday, August 9, that “the recipient had departed” from SIZO-5 in St. Petersburg. Information about the transfer was confirmed by lawyer Maria Belyaeva.
In Belarus, Pinchuk is charged under five articles: defamation (Article 188 of the Penal Code), illegal actions with another person’s personal data (Part 3 of Part 203-1 of the Penal Code), incitement to social hatred (Part 3 of Article 130 of the Penal Code), creation and leadership of an extremist group (Part 1 and 2 of Article 361-1 of the Penal Code), calls for action against national security (Part 3 of Article 361 of the Penal Code).
Detained in Saint Petersburg
Yana Pinchuk was detained in early November 2021 in Saint Petersburg at the request of the Belarusian authorities. At the end of May 2022, the court refused to grant asylum to the activist in the Russian Federation. On June 1, the St. Petersburg City Court upheld the decision of the Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation to extradite Pinchuk to Minsk.
According to the investigation, the activist was the administrator of the Telegram channels Vitebsk 97% and Orsha 97%. The prosecution alleges that it posted messages there with a “negative assessment” from representatives of the Belarusian authorities. Advocates say Pinchuk deleted the accounts after authorities declared the channels “extremist”. The activist admits no guilt.
UN committee called for abstention from extradition
The UN Human Rights Committee demanded that the Belarusian activist not be extradited from Russia to her homeland. This was announced on 13 July by the Moscow Helsinki Group, whose members appealed to the committee. The UN structure asked Russian authorities to “guarantee the protection of the activist’s life, physical and mental integrity” and “refrain from extraditing her” while the world organization analyzes her complaint on the merits.
Source: DW
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