Andrej Aliaksandraŭ (, transliteration in official documents: Andrei Aliaksandrau; born 27 January 1978) is a
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
ian journalist, activist and
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
.
Early life and career
Aliaksandraŭ was born in
Nizhny Tagil
Nizhny Tagil ( rus, Нижний Тагил, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj tɐˈgʲil) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located east of the boundary between Asia and Europe. Population:
History
The prehistor ...
(the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
). He moved to
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
as a child with his family. He went to school in
Pastavy
Pastavy ( be, Паставы, lt, Pastovys, russian: Поставы, pl, Postawy) is a city in the Vitebsk Region of Belarus, an administrative center of Pastavy District.
Location
Pastavy is located on the river Myadelki. Postavy Air Base ...
and read History and Philology at the
Polack State University.
He went on to study at the
University of Westminster
, mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength
, type = Public
, established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster
, endowment = £5.1 million ...
where he earned a degree in Media Management.
While in London, he joined the
Association of Belarusians in Great Britain
The Association of Belarusians in Great Britain ( be, Згуртаваньне беларусаў у Вялікай Брытаніі, ''Zhurtavańnie bielarusaŭ u Vialikaj Brytanii'') is the oldest Belarusian organisation in the United Kingdom un ...
and was actively involved in the activities of the
Belarusian diaspora in the UK.
In 2009–12, he was a deputy chair of the
Belarusian Association of Journalists
The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) ( be, Беларуская асацыяцыя журналістаў, Biełaruskaja Asacyjacyja Žurnalistaǔ; russian: Белорусская ассоциация журналистов) is a Belar ...
and worked for
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...
and
Article 19. In 2015–18, Aliaksandraŭ was a deputy director of
BelaPAN, the only independent of the government news agency in Belarus.
Aliaksandraŭ is a keen supporter of
Liverpool FC
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
.
2020 activism and imprisonment
Between August and November 2020 Aliaksandraŭ and his partner Iryna Zlobina were involved in the work of “BY_help”, a crowd-funding platform. The platform was set up to assist participants in the
anti-Lukashenka's protests with finding the money to pay administrative fines imposed on them by the
Lukashenka regime.
They were arrested on 12 January 2021 and charged with “Training and other preparation of persons for participation in public actions which seriously violate public order, as well as the financing and other aiding of such actions”. Recipients of BY_help's assistance were also charged with criminal offences and required to pay fines once again with their own funds.
On 18 January 2021 Aliaksandraŭ and Zlobina were declared political prisoners by human rights organisations which explained that ''freedom of assembly is guaranteed by the
Constitution of Belarus
The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Канстытуцыя Рэспублікі Беларусь, russian: Конституция Республики Беларусь) is the ultimate law of Belarus. The Constitution is composed of ...
and international law and that:''
“''the arrangement of payment of fines imposed on persons brought to administrative responsibility
and the costs of their imprisonment in detention facilities have nothing to do with the financing of mass riots or other group actions that grossly violate public order: the suspects did not pay for any criminal acts, did not promise advance payments to persons on the conditions of committing actions covered by
the Criminal Code, did not participate in their preparation (training or other material support)''”.
On 30 June 2021 Aliaksandraŭ was charged with high treason (Article 356-1 of the Criminal Code). If found guilty under this article, he may face up to 15 years of imprisonment.
On 6 October 2022, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Aliaksandraŭ to 14 years in prison. Also sentenced were Zlobina and two other Andrei’s colleagues, Irina Leushina and Dzmitry Navazhylau.
References
Further reading
Belarus: Release Andrei Aliaksandrau and Irina Zlobina.- ARTICLE 19. 2021-01-18
Association of European Journalists - News. AEJ Statement demands freedom for Andrei Aliaksandrau and other detained Belarus journalists. 2021-01-18
SoE supports campaign to free Belarusian journalists - Society of Editors.2021-02-04
Civic Solidarity Platform calls for the release of Andrei Aliaksandrau.- Human Rights House Foundation. 2021-01-26
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aliaksandrau, Andrej
Belarusian journalists
Political prisoners according to Viasna Human Rights Centre
1978 births
Living people
Political prisoners in Belarus