„There are no limits to arbitrariness“
On political trials in Belarus
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Since mid-2020, more than 1,000 people have been arrested in Belarus and sentenced in political criminal proceedings amid the coarsest violations of the principles of the rule of law. Some have served their sentences, but many have been sentenced to five, ten, or even 14 years in a penal colony. Moreover, many thousands of people were arrested and sentenced to prison for participating in the major protests that followed the presidential elections in August and September. Lawyer Andrei Mochalov has defended numerous people in administrative proceedings and politically motivated criminal trials. He reports on the arbitrariness of the courts, the ubiquity of torture, and the impunity that the perpetrators from the ranks of the authorities can expect.
(Osteuropa 8-9/2021, pp. 69–76)