Alexander Otroschenkov (Аляксандр Атрошчанкаў, Александр Отрощенков, also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

as Alyaksandr Atroshchankau or Aleksandr Atroshchenko) 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 ...

ian political activist and journalist. In 2011 he was sentenced to four years in prison after he covered a protest rally as a journalist. He was listed by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.

History of activism

He was a member of the

Zubr Zubr may refer to: *Żubr or Zubr, the name in several Slavic languages for the wisent or European bison (''Bison bonasus'') *Zubr (political organization), a civic youth organization in Belarus *''Zubr'', a novel by Daniil Granin * TOZ-55 "Zubr", a ...

movement of youth. In 2001 he was arrested after the police took a Zubr badge off of his jacket at a soccer game. In the same year he was arrested and charged with Article 156 of the Belarusian penal code, "petty hooliganism", after the police confiscated Zubr flags from his friends and arrested 15 people. He was the press secretary for the Zubr movement. He was one of many people charged with "slandering the president" (Article 367, par. 1 of the penal code) around the time of the

2001 Belarusian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 9 September 2001. The election should have been held in 1999, but a revised constitution adopted in 1996 extended incumbent Alexander Lukashenko's term for another two years. Lukashenko was re-ele ...

. The

Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations The Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (russian: Центр экстремальной журналистики) is a press advocacy group in Russia. Founded in 2000 as part of the Russian Union of Journalists, the center is the primary m ...

said he felt his treatment was related to the invitation he had received from Amnesty International to travel to Germany. In mid-2002 he was jailed for 5 days for participating in the protests of April 19 in the same year. He has worked as a journalist for

Charter 97 Charter 97 ( be, Хартыя'97; russian: Хартия'97) is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a pro- human rights news site taking its inspiration from the declaration. The document – the title of which deliberately echoes th ...

for 10 years. He also was a spokesman for the group named European Belarus. In 2012 Belarusian authorities prohibited Aliaksandr Atroshchankau to leave Belarus form calling to sanctions against regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka Since 2018 Aliaksandr Atroshchankau cooperates with Belarusian media Reform.by as an author of interviews with experts, diplomats and opinion-makers, also worked as a reporter ar NATO HQ He is an expert in , an international expert initiative established in 2018 and aimed at detecting, analysing and countering hybrid threats against democracy, rule of law and sovereignty of states in Western, Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Elections of 2010 & prison sentence

During the Belarus presidential election campaigns of 2010, he was the press secretary for candidate

Andrei Sannikov Andrei Olegovich Sannikov (or Andrei Sannikau, be, Андрэй Алегавіч Саннікаў, russian: Андрей Олегович Санников, born 8 March 1954) is a Belarusian politician and activist. In the early 1990s, he headed ...

. Sannkov's previous press secretary, Oleg Bebenin, had been found hanged; the government claimed it was suicide but his friends suspected otherwise. On December 19, 2010 Atroshchankau was working as a journalist covering the mass protests of the election results. Many of these protests took place at Nezalezhanstsi Square in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. He was working for Lithuanian

Delfi Delfi may refer to * Delfi (web portal), internet portal in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania * Delfi (chess), chess engine * Delfi bookstores, a chain of bookstores in Serbia * Delfi Limited, a Singaporean confectionery company See also * Delphi ...

, a news portal. He was one of several hundred people arrested on December 19/20, and one of a few dozen eventually charged with offenses by the government. Amnesty International put him on a list of many Belarusian prisoners of conscience arrested during the protests. Daria Korsak, his wife, has stood picket outside of the KGB building in Minsk. Atroshchankau was charged with violating part 2 of article 293 of the Belarus penal code (organizing and taking part in mass riot). The court also alleged that he was "part of the mob" and "forcefully tried to burst into the House of Government". According to Belsat TV he pleaded not guilty. Aliaksandr Atroshchankau was subjected to tortures in KGB pretrial detention center for refusal to become KGB informant and testify against his colleges and himselfhttps://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/d/0/93473.pdf The trial lasted from March 1 to March 2. It was in the court for the Frunzenski district of

. The judge was Cherkas Tatsiana Stanislavauna and the prosecutor was Tatsiana Maladtsova. Atroshchankau's trial was held at the same time as Aliaksandr Malchanau and Dzmitry Novik. On March 2, Atroshchankau was sentenced to four years in prison. The Human Rights Centre Viasna wrote that the sentence was "politically motivated and unlawful". It also claimed that the evidence against Atroshchankau and others did not show any violation of article 293. At the time of his arrest he was a student of

International Law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

(Международное право) at the European Humanities University. The University said that it would work to help him with his education despite the circumstances. On 14 September 2011 Atroshchankau was released along with 10 other political prisoners by a resolution of the president. According to Atroshchankau, he did not appeal for a release.

External links

video of Atroshchankau in the Belarus courtroom
(link at delfi.lt)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otroschenkov, Alexander Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Belarus Belarusian democracy activists Belarusian dissidents Belarusian journalists Living people Belarusian prisoners and detainees Imprisoned journalists Year of birth missing (living people)