Supreme Court upholds two-year sentence for Anastasia Matsiash

On June 28, Supreme Court Judge Siarhei Hurau con­sid­ered the appeal of Anas­ta­sia Mat­si­ash. The appeal was denied and the orig­i­nal ver­dict of the court of first instance was upheld.

Anas­tasiya Mat­si­ash. Pho­to: Social media

Anas­ta­sia was sen­tenced to two years in prison and fined $6,100. Her com­put­er and phone were con­fis­cat­ed. The woman was also ordered to pay over $30,000 to the state, which she alleged­ly got from her “crim­i­nal activ­i­ties.”

The ver­dict says that from June 2021 to Novem­ber 2023, Anas­ta­sia Mat­si­ash was a lan­guage con­sul­tant for the Pol­ish TVP, which includes the Pol­ish TV chan­nel Bel­sat. Bel­sat, an extrem­ist for­ma­tion, alleged­ly hired Mat­si­ash to do trans­la­tions, proof­read­ing, and oth­er work. She then used these mate­ri­als to help Bel­sat with its extrem­ist activ­i­ties, includ­ing cre­at­ing and shar­ing them online. She was rec­og­nized by the court as a mem­ber of the “extrem­ist for­ma­tion.”

The Belaru­sian MIA declared Bel­sat TV’s Inter­net resources an “extrem­ist for­ma­tion” on 3 Novem­ber 2021.

Anas­ta­sia Mat­si­ash is to be trans­ferred to the cor­rec­tion­al facil­i­ty to serve her sen­tence soon.

On May 27, Belaru­sian human rights orga­ni­za­tions rec­og­nized her as a pris­on­er.