Belarus: Church teacher charged with “distributing extremist materials”

On 2 July 2023, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that a Catholic “teacher of catechesis in the Minsk Cathedral Church, Wladislav Beladzed, was arrested for the third time for 15 days”. Each time he has been charged with "distributing extremist materials". A group called “Christian Vision” claimed that Beladzed looked "like a person who had gone through torture and inhumane treatment" at the hearing. Beladzed's relatives said they noticed signs of beatings on his face at a previous trial.

In its Religious Freedom Survey, January 2023, Forum 18 stated: “Forum 18's freedom of religion and belief survey analysis of Belarus notes continuing violations of this freedom and of interlinked freedoms. These include a web of ‘legal’ restrictions on which communities can meet, where, who they are led by, and what literature they may use. These restrictions make the exercise of freedom of religion and belief dependent on state permission.” The report claims that violations have worsened since the presidential election of August 2020 and the regime's open support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

World Watch Research analyst Rolf Zeegers comments: “It is clear that the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko is restricting freedoms in Belarus in an ever increasing manner. This heavy-handed policy is not limited to political opposition and human rights activists, but also includes church leaders and ordinary Christians. The number of violent incidents targeting Christians has also increased: Churches have been closed (Forum 18, 13 October 2022) and even demolished (Forum 18, 22 June 2023), a Polish Catholic priest was forced to leave Belarus after serving in a parish in Grodno since 1997 (Forum 18, 5 January 2023), and several Christians have been fined and detained for sharing their faith in public (Forum 18, 12 June 2023). This all goes to show that religious freedom is becoming a thing of the past in Belarus and this situation is not expected to improve as long as President Lukashenko remains in office.”