“адміністраваў больш за 30 тэлеграм-чатаў, у прыватнасці чаты «97»”
15 yrs
sentence
Finding · Belarus
The extremism machine
Belarus rewrote how it jails dissenters without writing new laws. In 2020 almost no one was charged as an “extremist.” By 2025, three in four documented arrests were — a wholesale shift from public-order charges to national-security law.
Live from the case database · as of July 6, 2026
604
cases charged as extremism
Article 361 series
49%
of all documented cases
carry an extremism charge
5% → 76%
share of yearly arrests
2020 → 2025
327
sentenced
avg 6.1 yrs in prison
01Why this holds
Belarus didn't need new laws to escalate — it repurposed old ones. The Article 361 group ("extremism" and threats to national security) went from a footnote in 2020 to the dominant charge by 2025, as the state designated opposition media, Telegram channels and even human-rights groups as "extremist formations" and then prosecuted their editors, donors, readers and subscribers.
Art. 361
Calls against national security
Public calls for actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus — including calls for sanctions or other restrictive measures against the state.
Source ↗Art. 361-1
Creating an “extremist formation”
Creating, leading or participating in an “extremist formation.” After 2021 the state designated opposition media, Telegram channels and NGOs — including the Viasna Human Rights Centre — as extremist, exposing their staff, readers and subscribers to this charge.
Source ↗Art. 361-2
Financing extremist activity
Financing the activity of an “extremist formation” — used against donations to strike funds, solidarity funds and independent media.
Source ↗Art. 361-4
Assisting extremist activity
“Assistance to extremist activity” — the fastest-growing charge in our data, reaching reposts, subscriptions and low-level support of designated groups.
Source ↗02Extremism charges as a share of each year’s documented arrests
5%
35%
38%
47%
51%
76%
55%
'20'22'24'26
Each bar is the percentage of that year’s documented arrests that carried an Article 361-series charge. Bars are labelled with the share; hover for the underlying counts. Years with few documented arrests are noisier — see caveats.
03What the cases rest on
Unknown
375 · 62%
Online Speech
105 · 17%
Financial Support
82 · 14%
Physical Presence
31 · 5%
Device Evidence
4 · 1%
Social Media Monitoring
2 · 0%
State Fabrication
2 · 0%
Informant / Secret Witness
1 · 0%
Financial Tracking
1 · 0%
Intercepted Communications
1 · 0%
04How to read this honestly
- §These are cases documented in our database (primarily from the Viasna Human Rights Centre), not a count of every prosecution. The value here is case-level detail: what each person actually did, with a source.
- §Shares are computed over documented arrests that carry an arrest-date; a case counts as "extremism" if any of its charges falls in the Article 361 group. It does not require the person to have committed or advocated violence.
- §This measures the mix of charges among documented cases, not the absolute number of prosecutions in Belarus, which is larger. Recent years are also less complete as cases are still being documented and tried.
05The receipts · 604 cases
Every documented case behind this finding, each linking to its profile and primary source. 228 carry a verbatim quote of what the prosecution rested on.
“адміністратаркай трох пратэсных тэлеграм-каналаў”
12 yrs
sentence
“адміністраванне тэлеграм-каналов «Віцебск 97%» і «Орша 97%»”
12 yrs
sentence
Jahor DudnikauArt. 361
“агучцы відэаролікаў для апазіцыйных тэлеграм-каналаў і закліках да гвалту”
11 yrs
sentence
“Яе абвінавачваюць у адміністраванні некалькіх экстрэмісцкіх Telegram-каналаў і даванні інтэрв'ю экстрэмісцкім рэсурсам.”
10 yrs
sentence
“адміністраванне тэлеграм-чата «Жыве Лунінец!»”
9 yrs
sentence
Dzijana HaurylavaArt. 361-1
“«справы дваровых чатаў»”
9 yrs
sentence
“адміністратарам Telegram-канала «Чижовка Чыжоўка»”
7 yrs
sentence
Anatol MaculeviczArt. 361-1
“адміністратарам тэлеграм-канала «Полоцк Новополоцк Страна Для Жизни»”
7 yrs
sentence
Natallja DaroninaArt. 361-1
“у рамках якой пераследавалі жыхароў за дыскусіі ў інтэрнэце”
8 yrs
sentence
Volha AsipczykArt. 361-1
“Яе абвінавачваюць у прыналежнасці да экстрэмісцкай кааліцыі «Ордэн», у якую ўваходзяць розныя дваровыя чаты.”
8 yrs
sentence
“за каментары ў сацсетках”
7 yrs
sentence
Aljaksei MandzikArt. 361
“за каментары ў Telegram-каналах на адресу супрацоўнікаў АУС”
7 yrs
sentence
“за каментары ў сацсетках”
7 yrs
sentence
Barys VitkoArt. 361
“criticizing officials and the President online”
7 yrs
sentence
“адміністратарам Telegram-чата «Propovednik»”
7 yrs
sentence
6 yrs
sentence
Nadzieja LapcionakArt. 361
“Яй прысудзілі 6 гадоў калоніі за рассылку паведамленняў, якія абражалі прэзідэнта, суддзяў і прадстаўнікоў улады.”
6 yrs
sentence
Aljaksandr SzarabeikaArt. 361-1
“рэпостаў у сацыяльных сетках”
6 yrs
sentence
“за ўдзел у Telegram-чаце”
5 yrs
sentence
Yauhen KlimauArt. 361-1
“за рэпост паведамлення з тэлеграм-канала «Nexta»”
5 yrs
sentence
Aleh KanavalauArt. 361-1
“уладальнік YouTube-канала «Третий регион Беларусь»”
5 yrs
sentence
Andrei BykauArt. 361
“Ён быў асуджаны за каментары ў інтэрнэце і заклікі да санкцый супраць беларускага кіраўніцтва.”
5 yrs
sentence
7 yrs
sentence
Cite this finding
Political Prisoner Watch, "The extremism machine: the rise of Article 361 'extremism' charges among documented Belarusian political prisoners" (as of July 6, 2026).
https://politicalprisonerwatch.org/findings/belarus-extremism-charges
More findings · Belarus