Media manager Andrei Aliaksandrau suspected of tax evasion

On 31 August, Ali­ak­san­drau was declared a sus­pect under part 2 of Arti­cle 243 of the Crim­i­nal Code. «He refused to tes­ti­fy and did­n’t admit his guilt,» the lawyer said.

Andrei Ali­ak­san­drau and his part­ner Iry­na Zlobi­na were detained in Min­sk on 12 Jan­u­ary 2021 and accused of financ­ing protests (parts 1 and 2 of Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code). In ear­ly July, Ali­ak­san­drau was also charged under part 1 of Arti­cle 356 of the Crim­i­nal Code (high trea­son).

Belaru­sian human rights activists declared him a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Ear­li­er Andrei Ali­ak­san­drau worked for Bela­PAN infor­ma­tion com­pa­ny. Cur­rent­ly, Bela­PAN direc­tor and edi­tor-in-chief Iry­na Leushy­na and for­mer agency direc­tor Dzmit­ry Navazhy­lau are in pre-tri­al deten­tion.  Leushy­na and Navazhy­lau were detained on 18 August as sus­pects under Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code (orga­ni­za­tion and prepa­ra­tion of actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order, or active par­tic­i­pa­tion in such actions).

On 27 August, the Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee report­ed that they were also sus­pect­ed of com­mit­ting a crime under part 2 of Arti­cle 243 of the Crim­i­nal Code (tax eva­sion result­ing in major dam­age). He faces up to five years of restrict­ed free­dom or three to sev­en years’ impris­on­ment with a fine and depri­va­tion of the right to hold cer­tain posi­tions or engage in cer­tain activ­i­ties or with­out it.

Apart from Leushy­na and Navazhy­lau, Bela­PAN accoun­tant Kat­siary­na Boye­va was detained on 18 August. Human rights activists declared all three polit­i­cal pris­on­ers.

Boye­va was released on the morn­ing of 28 August on a pledge to appear. She remains a sus­pect in the case.