Eduard Palčys (, b. 1990) is a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian activist and political prisoner.

Early years

Palčys was born in

Lida Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...

. At school he became a recipient of a grant for gifted children and subsequently read history at the

Belarusian State University The Belarusian State University (BSU) (, ; ) is a university in Minsk, Belarus. It was founded on October 30, 1921. The university was ranked 387th in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. History 1919–1949 On February 25, 1919, ...

Activism and persecution

Following Russia's invasion of the Crimea, Palčys created the website site 1863x.com which was "conceived as a response to those Russian propagandists who began to attack Belarus in 2014." On account of his publications, Palčys was detained in Russia and extradited to Belarus. He was recognised as a political prisoner from January to November 2016. In August 2016, a court in Minsk found 9 materials from the website to be “extremist” - which human right organisations declared “a permissible form of expression

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

may not be prosecuted under the criminal law”. During the 2020-2021 Belarusian protests Palčys was arrested and sentenced to 30 days in jail on a charge of violating the law on mass gatherings. After serving his sentence in October 2020, he was not released and instead charged again, this time with incitement of social hatred, organisation of mass disorder, organisation of activities that disrupt social order, and calls for activities that aim to damage the country's national security. On 17 December 2021 Palčys was sentenced to 13 years in prison.Блогеру Эдуарду Пальчысу прысудзілі 13 гадоў калёніі (Blogger Eduard Palčys was sentenced to 13 years in prison)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palčys, Eduard Belarusian dissidents Living people 1990 births Belarusian prisoners and detainees