April 13, 2022
A court in Minsk has sentenced the mother of a fugitive Belarusian anarchist to three years of open prison for taking part in unsanctioned rallies against the regime of authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The Frunze district court in the Belarusian capital sentenced the 57-year-old Hayane Akhtiyan on April 12 after it found her guilty of taking part in activities that disrupt social order, the Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center said.
The open prison system is known across the former Soviet Union as “khimiya” (chemistry), a name that goes back to the late-1940s when convicts were sent to work at dangerous facilities, mainly chemical factories, and allowed to live in special dormitories instead of being incarcerated in penitentiaries.
